2776 is the new musical comedy album from writers Rob Kutner and Joel and Stephen Levinson. The premise is that it's the 1000th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and an evil alien is threatening to destroy the U.S. unless the president and his secret service agent can prove that the country is worth saving.
And so they embark on a hilarious musical journey through our nation's past, present and future, taking a closer look at everything American (whether it be sports, race, religion, sex, immigration, history, chickens, rock n' roll, time travel or fanboy culture), and wind up meeting many prominent Americans along the way.
2776 features more than 80 comedians, musicians and actors who got together to record songs about this crazy place we call home. All profits from the album will be donated to OneKid OneWorld, which supports education in impoverished communities throughout Kenya and El Salvador.
Some artists take the album's premise more literally than others. And their vision of the future is delightfully zany: Aimee Mann sings "I'm Cured," about the invention of a cure for the common cold. It's a breakup song, sung by the common cold to humanity:
And then Neko Case and Kelly Hogan sing a song about the future, where fanboy culture has taken over the world. They lament that the future was designed by teenage guys. "Looks like a permanent Comic-Con," they sing, as if that was a bad thing:
Not sure I'm wild about Neko Case's combination Spock/Princess Leia costume, but their vision of a future where the geeks shall inherit the Earth has serious possibilities.
This is just a small taste of the lunacy that awaits you on 2776. The album is currently available as a digital download from iTunes or Google Play, or on CD from Amazon or CD Baby.
