I’ll be honest – there were a few songs that I very much enjoyed on Gnarls Barkley’s debut St. Elsewhere. It was reasonable to expect something promising from the sophomore effort, something more mature and developed. But upon listening to The Odd Couple, I found it hard to actually get through the entire album. I’m sure they’ll sell a lot of records, and the bottom line is that they’re good guys with a good story–but that’ doesn’t make good music. “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” is a passable, quirky soul ballad that is decent at best. The more upbeat tracks fail to captivate–I’m not looking for an infectious anthem like “Crazy” or “The Last Time”, just some solid tunes. And there’s not much here.

So if any of these songs make airplay, that’s fine. Good for them. More of an excuse not to listen to the radio anyway.

Listen to “Going On” (4.4/5)