Half of something is not always a bad thing. Many people would pay to see Paul and Ringo perform together. The Rolling Stones only have half of their motor skills left. Even Def Leppard's drummer got by with one good arm. And we still love them all.

The glass is half full in this case as well, when Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm' DiConstanzo — of the inactive Da Vinci's Notebook quartet — form the duo Paul and Storm. In their first full-length CD Opening Band, the duo replace their departed DVN colleagues with less vocal band members: musical instruments.

The CD's comedic theme hinges on their ability to perform a wide range of genres: country, folk, love songs, oldies rock 'n roll, TV commercials and the imagined works of Randy Newman.

"Opening Band" starts out with the song of the same name. The reflexive tribute pines over the inattention given to the opening band, used to warm up the crowd (if they've showed up yet) while the headline performer stays back and gets hammered. (And if you doubt their singing ability, time the note they simultaneously hold at the end of the song.)

The album also features a few enhanced studio versions of songs that appeared on their 30-minute-long album "Shame and Cookie Dough." (Although they'll probably tell you it was technically "fun size" or something.)

The band has two running bits going for them.

The first is the commercial ditty campaign. Nine of their 32 tracks are jingles, and even they range from classic corny tunes to a brief Andrew W.K.-style punchline about Domino's Pizza. Their signature commercial jingle, a minute-long ballad on Pillsbury Cookie Dough, is restored with additional frilly instruments, amplifying just how decadent cookie dough can be to the human gullet. They also take well-spirited shots at Necco Wafers, Denny's, Twister (the game, not the weather disaster), Cheetos and Ex-Lax.

The second bit is the endless legion of Randy Newman parody songs. Long story short: Paul and Storm show us what it would be like if he wrote songs for all the movies in the world, such as "Lord of the Rings" and "Passion of the Christ." And the ongoing punchline is that it's the same melody every time. So, since the thought of Newman singing makes everyone smile, the fake Newman songs get the job done vicariously.