Sir Gnarls : Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere

When I first heard of the group Gnarls Barkley, I had assumed it was a mediocre band trying to make it off of the band name's similarity to the basketball superstar. Yet, it is clear from the very first song that Gnarls Barkley is a band that has a substance all its own.

Gnarls is a partnership between Danger Mouse - a DJ and producer who has worked with bands like the Gorillaz and achieved fame in 2004 by remixing Jay-Z's The Black Album with The Beatles' The White Album - and Cee Lo Green, who has been very active in the Southern Hip Hop scene as a member of the Goodie Mob and as a solo artist.

Listeners who are familiar with Cee Lo's solo album 'Cee Lo Green and His Imperfections' will at once notice the similarity in style with Gnarls' 'St. Elsewhere'. This style is a mix of neo-soul, funk and hip hop, though Cee Lo abandons his Southern rap style for both in favor of his singing voice. While he has been compared to Andre 3000 of OutKast, Cee Lo's voice is far superior to Andre's.

St. Elsewhere has moments of brilliance. Songs like "The Storm is Coming" are examples of what Gnarls Barkley is great at; intelligent lyrics, resounding beats and well-done hooks. Songs like "Online" and "Feng Shui" are harder to get into, but grown on you, which is the mark of a great album; its listenability is beyond the catchy single, "Crazy". The album contains songs of depth like "Necromancer" (at first, a song about necrophilia, but clearly a thinly veiled metaphor for a woman who has "died" inside), and "Just a Thought". Other songs like "Boogie Monster" and "Transformer" are without much substance but sound great doing nothing.

This album is probably going to sail over the heads of an American public used to formulaic hip hop and pop music, but for those who enjoy a unique look at music, 'St. Elsewhere' is a refreshing change.

4 1/2 out of 5.