GNARLS BARKLEY
St. Elsewhere
Warner
· Busy beat-maker Danger Mouse and the soulful Cee Lo Green team up for a funky, futuristically retro collaboration.
With a ludicrous basketball pun for a name, an album titled after a long forgotten ’80s hospital drama and a set of press photos spoofing Wayne’s World, The Big Lebowski and Napoleon Dynamite, Gnarls Barkley seem like they want our attention very badly.
Fortunately, one visit to St. Elsewhere proves that the music contained within deserves the interest, praise and hyperbolic hype it has already accumulated. Producer Danger Mouse (best known for his mash-up masterpiece The Grey Album, but who is also the man behind the boards on last year’s Danger Doom and Gorillaz albums), has jam-packed these 14 short songs with everything from cinematic strings to ’60s funk horns to storm sound effects. Toss in the spastically sincere soul vocals of Goodie Mob member Cee Lo Green and you have an album full of fresh ideas, pulled off well.
Obviously, most listeners will be primarily interested in the now near universally lauded "Crazy," and for good reason. Crooning with a possessed passion not heard since the glory days of Motown, Cee Lo drops some serious science on life with a guttural belly laugh. "Hahaha, bless your soul/ You really think you’re in control/ Well, I think you’re crazy/ Just like me." It’s one of the most thought-provoking singles released in years, as well as one of the most fun to sing along to.
That being said, Gnarls Barkley are much more than one-trick ponies, and the album is heavy on the highlights. On the fiery title track, an extended metaphor on isolation, Cee Lo is alone on an island, wondering, "Would it be so hard for you to come and visit me here?" St. Elsewhere crosses over into even darker lyrical territory with "Just a Thought," as Spanish-sounding acoustic guitars and turntable scratches propel Cee Lo’s admission that "So I’ve tried/ Everything but suicide/ And yes, it’s crossed my mind/ But I’m fine."
Delving further, "Smiley Faces" is a flawless slice of harmonized space funk, closer "The Last Time" is full of Isaac Hayes-inspired street swagger, and the Violent Femmes cover "Gone Daddy Gone" is inessential, but totally awesome. Even when songs seem slightly tossed off, like the creepy "Necromancer" or the ode to organizing, "Feng Shui," at least they’re interesting and under three minutes long.
So when Cee Lo says, "The feeling is frightening/ And isn’t it exciting?" on the glitchy banger "Storm Coming," he couldn’t have described this dazzling debut more succinctly. The feeling might not last forever, but for now it makes me crazy every time.
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