Gnarls Barkley doesn't like to tell you what its music is about. You can listen to songs from both St. Elsewhere and the newly released The Odd Couple over and over again without having any clue as to just what the hell the guys from Gnarls Barkley are doing. I downloaded The Odd Couple from iTunes and spent a whole week with my headphones on, listening to the album, and here's what I learned -- Gnarls Barkley is the most inventively obnoxious pop duo you'll ever get hooked on.
The Odd Couple is Gnarls Barkley's highly anticipated second album. So anticipated, in fact, that its leak onto the Internet in early March pushed the store's release up from April 8 to March 25. Underground producer Danger Mouse (Brian Burton) and former Goodie Mob member Cee-Lo Green (Thomas Callaway) come together again to pick up where their last (and hugely successful) album St. Elsewhere left off -- with some bizarre tunes.
Before I started listening to the first song I noticed something strange (and kind of annoying, since I had just paid $10 on iTunes) -- the entire album only plays for 40 minutes. Each song is about 2:30 long. Like St. Elsewhere, The Odd Couple looks like an album of samples.
And the samples are what stick out on the album. Whereas St. Elsewhere showcased Danger Mouse's craftsmanship in creating new sounds, The Odd Couple is exemplary of his ear for sampling and mastery of mixing. The Odd Couple sounds like it belongs in the late 1960s, as if Cee-Lo was singing over James Brown's backup band. Danger Mouse samples sounds of a generation, like The Mamas and the Papas and The Free Design, and channels everyone from Brown to Al Green to Sly and the Family Stone. And despite the fact that The Odd Couple blends pop-rock, funk, soul and nerd rap beautifully, the results are as mixed as the samples that made the avant-garde sound itself.
You've probably heard a few songs from the album (iTunes and MTV are promoting the hell out of it), or you've seen some of the publicity pictures Gnarls Barkley released (they pose as Wayne and Garth, Napoleon and Pedro, Dr. Evil and Austin and slew of other famous pairs -- Google some images, they're hilarious). "Run" is the most-talked about single, a fast-paced 1960s anthem that is firmly rooted in soul and rock. It sounds like it could be played alongside Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers" -- lots of energy with a great drum hook.
"Surprise" uses a similar sound, although it's a little more poppy. It even borrows the 1960s-esque "Bop bop bops" used by groups like The Mamas and the Papas. Cee-Lo sounds great on both "Surprise" and "Run" -- his southern twang comes through effectively against the classic background.
The best song on the album has to be "Going On," which is now number 88 on the Billboard charts. Opening with a sweet pseudo-Hendrix guitar solo (which reappears throughout the song), "Going On" meshes the best of the past with what's available in the present. It's a song you'll want to play over and over, not just because it's so short, but because "Going On" is a song in which Cee-Lo's uniqueness really comes through.
Unfortunately, this appreciation I had for ingenuity is somewhat short-lived. After the first four songs on the album, I got annoyed. Songs like "Open Book" and "Whatever" are too weird and kind of obnoxious. I'm wondering if Cee-Lo's voice is a sound I can only take in small doses, or if the rest of the tracks really are too out there for me.
The Odd Couple is an album that frustrates as much as it entertains. It challenges the sound of pop music as much as it adheres to it. It makes you wonder what Danger and Cee-Lo are going to do next. One thing is for sure -- if you didn't care about Gnarls Barkley before, The Odd Couple will get you hooked. You have been warned. 3
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
