Album: Peaches / I Feel Cream

Artist: Peaches

Album: I Feel Cream

A few slight tweaks to the Peaches persona, but this is generally a logical extension of Impeach My Bush. At first, following the state-of-the-Peaches "Serpentine", "Talk to Me" gives the impression that this album might be headed in more of a disco direction but after a couple tracks of that things revert a bit more to type. Which is too bad, as this is the album's best stuff. "Lose You" not only introduces a rare touch of vulnerability, but also has a soulful underpinning, bringing, say, The Gossip to mind. Most of the rest depends on finding the subtle differentiation from the rest of the catalog — and deciding to what degree it works. To the good, "Billionaire" is a good stomper with a rap cameo by Yo Majesty's Shunda K., while on the other side of the ledger, the title track sounds as if it were karaoke'd to a tired-sounding dance track from a decade ago. And so it goes down the line. There's really only a couple clunkers, so this is ultimately a worthy album. In the larger picture, whether you need this if you have another Peaches album depends on your affection for that sort of discographical hair-splitting.

Afterthought: Looking back on the above, it seems a bit churlish. The problem, of course, is that taken in the wrong context, this album's move-yr-bottom virtues are gonna be taken as, duh, merely repetitive. Properly applied in a "shut up and dance" situation, this is perfectly fine.

Track pick: Talk to Me