All hail Gnarls Barkley. Just when we were beginning to think we were doomed to hear the Zane Lowe approved ‘Crazy’ day in, day out for the rest of our miserable existence, intergalactic hip hop outlaws the Barkley boys – crafty Gorillaz producer Danger Mouse and singer/rapper Cee-Lo, onetime crew member of ‘90s Southern rap outfit Goodie Mob – came to our rescue, hitting the delete button and putting an end to their own nine week reign at the top of the singles chart.
As great a number one as ‘Crazy’ was at the start, it is far from the best track on the duo’s debut album St Elsewhere; a strongly themed work about death and insanity that sounds like it’s set on the Millennium Falcon whilst shooting through space, the Imperial Navy on their arse and Chewie raiding the medicine cabinet again.
Now Gnarls Barkley have returned to our humble little planet to release the second single from said album and fuel up. So suit up and strap in, this may be a bumpy ride.
They say:
Digital Spy: “Danger and Cee-Lo have truly surpassed themselves with this single.”
About: “‘Smiley Faces’ is an insta-classic finger-snapper laced over a riotous racket.”
We say:
‘Smiley Faces’ is another piece of space hop brilliance, interspersing Danger Mouse’s trademark eccentric electro bed with horny as hell bottom end and strutting alien drums.
Cee-Lo, meanwhile, comes across like Al Green in a spacesuit, soaring and warbling in the midst of burning Motown vocal assistance and TIE starfighter laser canons whizzing by.
“And I can tell you know how hard this life can be,” he sings, struggling with the demands of the daily grind or perhaps an oncoming asteroid field, then adding in genuine admiration, “But you keep on smiling for me.”
You cannot deny the power of Gnarls Barkley. Whether one week or nine, ‘Smiley Faces’ has number one hit written all over it. Resistance is futile.
Like this? Try these:
Gorillaz – ‘Dare’
OutKast – ‘Hey Ya’
RELEASED
Out now
LABEL
Warner
POSTED...
Thu 13 Jul 2006 at 8:59am
