Nick Thune's debut comedy album benefits from adding a DVD to the package.

Casual surrealist Nick Thune makes his comedy album debut with “Thick Noon,” on Comedy Central Records, out Tuesday, February 23. The CD portion of the CD/DVD package features a lot of the material Thune performed on his last tour, reviewed 8/3/09.

Because of his low key persona, Thune’s CD doesn’t lose much when you cannot see his delivery. Thune goes rapid fire through the first few pieces including “You’re Welcome” and “I Don’t Care” but settles into a slower pace by the fifth or sixth piece, including “Weed Timeline.”

On “You’re Welcome,” Thune sets the tone by telling the audience “you’re welcome for coming out tonight.” Then he slides through seemingly disconnected pieces that are only artificially separated into tracks. The pieces become more conceptual and sustained as the album progresses.

“Instant Messenger,” a spoken song or a comedy piece with accompaniment is a better piece, recalling the early days of AOL (when Thune was only 14). The best piece on the album is “Backflip,” which was mentioned in the prior review, and also has musical backing. The piece finds Thune daydreaming about getting a chance to be a hero foiling a bank robbery.

One would think that this skillful use of music would bode well for the latter part of the album, which is studio-recorded songs. These four songs, which expand the runtime of the album to 47 minutes (Thune’s set is on the short side), are rather slight -- not very cutting as comedy and a little repetitive musically. In short, they aren’t even as sharp as Thune’s stand-up.

It’s the inclusion of a DVD that makes up for the slight nature of the CD, which contains his Comedy Central Presents episode, and some of his online video pieces. In effect, put together, the CD and DVD are really necessary to give you a complete album of work.