Late Late Show host James Corden has always had a thing for boy bands, often attempting to scam his way into joining a pre-existing one. But in his Thursday night show, Corden decided to form up his own, joined by Get Out director Jordan Peele and comedian Nick Kroll to craft the ultimate throwback trio—although they may not be squeaky-clean teen idols like their precursors, as they explain.
“Boy band music shouldn’t be about kissing you on the cheek, it should be so much more than that,” Corden insists in the spoof video, in which the three reflect on their fictional former career in pop.
“We decided to form the first honest boy band. We took existing boy band songs, cut through all the innuendo, and got to the heart of what those songs are really about: hard core sex,” Kroll continues.
To understand how they reworked classics like the Backstreet Boys’ “That Way,” consider the name they developed for their group: “Thr33way.” Watch them re-enact a number of previously idealized songs with a new, raunchy spin—and plenty of 90s-appropriate wig and costume changes—in the video, above.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com