Turtleneck & Chain

Back once again with the ill behavior, Lonely Island’s second effort is more of the same, which for many means that life is still worth living. Irony and stupidity abound as the crew has its way with that sweet and rare event called “lovemaking” (“I Just Had Sex” with Akon), your Mom (“Motherlover” with Justin Timberlake), hip-hop culture (“No Homo”), and popular culture in general (pretty much everything else), as interludes that owe a lot to Adam Sandler tie it all together. The jokes are the main attraction -- they contrast extreme bravado and extreme embarrassment for maximum hilarity -- but the great trick behind Lonely Island is their keen awareness of whatever genre they are mocking. With the right beats and production, “The Creep” is the kind of stalker anthem you’d expect if stalkers posted tracks on hip-hop blogs, while “Jack Sparrow” is the Michael Bolton power ballad to perfection, and even comes with a hearty helping of Michael Bolton. Bad news for newcomers is that tracks like “Shy Ronnie 2: Bonnie & Clyde” won’t work well away from their visuals, meaning Turtleneck & Chain is sometimes a souvenir for Saturday Night Live viewers, who know just how much that slow motion video helps a cut like “Threw It on the Ground.” That said, the title track is killer, “We’re Back!” might be the ultimate intro, and if you can deny shelf space to an album with “Trouble on Dookie Island” on the track list, you’re probably much more “Watch Me Do Me” than “I Just Had Sex” anyway.