Former Moldy Peaches man Adam Green has a way with words. He’s not bad when it comes to melodies either, but it is his diction and turn of phrase that spins heads, cracks smiles and more often that not, drops jaws.
Lest we forget this is the man who jauntily sang: "there's no wrong way to f*ck a girl with no legs" on his previous album "Friends Of Mine" and penned an ode to the pre-reality TV incarnation of Jessica Simpson. Odd doesn’t even begin to tell the story. So, his third solo out picks up the quirky baton where "Friends…" left off and sprints on. And on. See what happens when you tell someone they're mildly funny.
Still Green is content telling warped fairy tales of girls, infatuation and, erm, more girls. You get the picture. Musically it is as you were minus the synth string arrangements; think DIY indie, too many lonely nights, four-track recordings and vivid imaginations. Green’s vocals may not be to everyone’s taste, hopping randomly between a 21st century Jonathan Richman to Scott Walker doing vaudeville or Evan Dando impersonating Jim Morrison.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, Green just can’t help fiddling. He’s got creative A.D.D. and seems unable to concentrate on one idea for a whole song. Not necessarily a bad thing but it is when they are irritatingly half-baked. It smacks of a lack of quality control and nowhere is this more evident that on the title track that does back-flips for the sake of being off-kilter. Shame.
It is one thing to not take yourself to seriously but it is quite another to go to the other extreme. For all his knowing winks, Green walks the fine line between decadency and distaste – "Choke On A Cock" being a case in point. Ultimately it also makes "Gemstones" glaringly throwaway and about as durable as a chocolate tea-pot.
If you can, enjoy "Gemstones" for what it is. If you can’t, you won’t have missed out.
