Gnarls Barkley
“THE ODD COUPLE”
RATING: 3 EXCLAMATION POINTS
“The Odd Couple” is the most-watched sophomore album in a while, and there’s enough interest that Gnarls Barkley moved up the release date by three weeks, presumably to avoid leaks like the one that already let loose the first single, “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster).” Where “Crazy” was a smooth, futuristic funk song, “Run” takes an old-school soul tack with bursts of brass punctuating busy double-speed percussion. The duo’s modern take on a classic sound runs throughout “Couple.” It’s there in the big, round funk bass line of “Charity Case,” the ’60s folk-pop harmonies of “Surprise” and the late-night atmospherics of “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul,” a song Marvin Gaye would have loved.
[ERIC R. DANTON, THE HARTFORD COURANT]The B-52s
“FUNPLEX”
RATING: 3 1/2 EXCLAMATION POINTS
The bewigged crew from Athens, Ga., shimmies out its first album in 16 years. The Seussian sex-party sound hasn’t changed much. But there’s still comfort in the quirky interplay of Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson and Fred Schneider, who continues to sell nonsense (“Bootybots! Erotobots!”) with conviction. At this stage in the game, the B-52s are better off blasting out the beats than going for nuance. So, although more careful offerings such as “Juliet of the Spirits” are kinda dull, humpy bumpers “Pump” and “Funplex” are easier to crank.
[SEAN DALY, ST. PETERSBURG TIMES]Panic at the Disco
“PRETTY. ODD.”
RATING: 2 EXCLAMATION POINTS
“We’re still the same band,” Panic at the Disco announces in “We’re So Starving,” the song that starts its new album. Not exactly. On “Pretty. Odd.” Panic’s fondness for baroquely orchestrated pop has led it back to the Beatles. “Nine in the Afternoon,” flaunts its late-1960s pedigree with horns and a video paying homage to “Magical Mystery Tour.” “Northern Downpour” is Panic’s “A Day in the Life,” while “When the Day Met the Night” is “Penny Lane” mixed with “Within You Without You.” “Pretty. Odd.” is a brave change and wildly elaborate. But in the end, “Pretty. Odd.” comes across as mannered and overbearing.
[JON PARELES, NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE]CD RACK
ALSO COMING OUT TODAY
* Cavalera Conspiracy, “Inflikted”
* Counting Crows, “Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings”
* Day 26, “Day 26”
* Lil Wayne & Birdman, “Happy Father’s Day”
* Mike Oldfield, “Music of the Spheres”
* RPWL, “The RPWL Experience”
