Tim Heidecker, Fred Armisen take it "Brick By Brick" in the Office Hours classic's official recording
The opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a good bit is the primary appeal of improvisational podcasts, and few offer as many opportunities to be in on the joke than Office Hours. Tim Heidecker’s weekly call-in podcast and livestream is chaotic by design, frequently propelled and redirected by of-the-moment topics, off-the-cuff impressions, and stumbled-upon melodies. It’s the latter that inspired the show’s latest effort, a compilation of original music that was conceived live on the air or produced specifically for the podcast.
Called Slaps, Bops & Bangers, it features Heidecker and Office Hours co-hosts DJ Douggpound and Vic Berger IV, as well as special guests like A.V. Club fave Nick Lutsko and Fred Armisen. You can hear the latter on the albums’ anthemic lead single, “Brick By Brick,” the bones of which were first assembled during a memorable 2019 episode featuring Armisen. With help from musician Daniel Cupps, a bit of tossed-off riffing between the comedians has become an synthy slice of inspirational, ‘80s-style power-pop.
Hear it below:
Heidecker and Armisen co-star Moonbase 8, which just wrapped up its first season on Showtime. Heidecker, too, recently released an LP of his own, Fear Of Death.
Hear another Office Hours single, “City Of The Day,” here, and pre-order a digital copy over at the podcast’s Bandcamp page. Slaps, Bops & Bangers officially arrives on December 18.