For me, one of the great pleasures of discovering a new creator that you enjoy is when you decide to look at their work a little more broadly and discover that they've been doing far more things that you like than you might have initially realised.
I mentioned the other day that I'd been enjoying the Game Grumps' work on YouTube, and I'd quickly become aware of the other projects the two presenters Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan had been working on — most notably the musical acts Starbomb and Ninja Sex Party. Today I've been checking both of these projects out, and really enjoying myself.
Ninja Sex Party is a comedic musical duo consisting of Avidan and his friend Brian Wecht, aka Danny Sexbang and Ninja Brian respectively. Avidan performs vocals, while Wecht is on keyboard. In the vein of other musical comedy acts, the pair are very much playing a role; "Sexbang" is, as you might expect, an oversexed guy who thinks he's better than everyone (and specifically better than Brian), while Brian is uncommunicative and occasionally homicidal.
Their songs consist of '80s-inspired rock and synthpop numbers, usually about sex or sexuality in some way, and typically involving jokes at Brian's expense. They're not just a gimmicky joke act, however; the songs themselves are incredibly catchy and entertaining as well as having humorous, often relatable lyrics. "No Reason Boner" from the duo's debut album "NSFW" will be a particular highlight for most men.
Starbomb, meanwhile, consists of Avidan and Wecht with the addition of Hanson. Their songs consist of video game and anime parodies, typically though not exclusively making use of hip-hop and modern rock sounds. Hanson and Avidan take the lead on the vocals this time around, with Hanson displaying his genuinely impressive rapping skills while Avidan provides the more melodic sections of each piece.
Once again, Starbomb's work consists of pieces that are genuinely enjoyable, listenable pieces of music first and foremost, entertaining parodies second. Particular highlights from what I've heard so far include "Filling in the Name Of", a Rage Against the Machine-inspired rant from the perspective of the long Tetris piece, who is fed up of people just using him, and Vegeta's Serenade, a spectacular Dragon Ball Z-inspired, Meat Loaf-style power ballad where Vegeta tries his best to sing a love song to his wife without mentioning Goku, and fails miserably.
If you need a bit of silly, nerdy humour in your life, I encourage you to check out both Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb. It's great to find some musical comedy that doesn't forget about the "musical" part.
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