Music

Gnarls Barkley
The Odd Couple
(Atlantic Records)

More than just gimmicky goofballs with a penchant for outlandish costumes, Gnarls Barkley's Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse make some of the most deceptively funky songs about maladjusted behavior and alienation. Their unavoidable 2006 hit, "Crazy" from their brilliant debut disc, St. Elsewhere, may have sounded like a call to party, but it's really a tension-filled rumination about psychosis.

The duo's equally superb follow-up, "The Odd Couple" doesn't feature a "Crazy"-level supersmash, but they still wed dark emotions with compelling beats. The closest they come to recreating a "Crazy" — like raucous paranoia is "Run (I'm A Natural Disaster)," a '60s mod send up in the vein of Outkast's "Hey Ya," but again with foreboding lyrics: "Run, children, run for your life!" Cee-Lo wails. Meanwhile, "Going On" is another uptempo handclapper that fades out to Cee-Lo's echoing vocals, distorted drum kicks and soaring strings.

The rest of the disc covers a range of melancholy, but never feels like you're emotionally sandbagged. Instead the somber tones merely sound artful, and transcendent in the disc's best moment. "Who's Gonna Save My Soul" is a slow-burning, soulful lament on which Cee-Lo begins, "Got some bad news this morning/ which in turn made my day." The chilling "Would Be Killer" jump starts with what sounds like a gun being cocked, then continues with Cee-Lo's devilish snarls and Danger Mouse's penchant for moody atmospherics and retro-futuristic funk. And the flute-driven "She Knows" is a cryptic song about dishonesty.

By the disc's end, the brooding moments relent a tad on "A Little Better," a track that talks of mental anguish yet imagines a hopeful outcome, as Cee-Lo delivers the hook: "I feel better, I can smile at it now, I feel better ..." Through all the murky feelings, "The Odd Couple" indeed has that sentimental effect.

Check out: His formidable rapping skills as solo artist and as a member of Atlanta's Goodie MOB notwithstanding, Cee-Lo proves he's a pure soulman at on the goose-bump invoking "Who's Gonna Save My Soul."

Counting Crows
Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
(Geffen)

Wild nights and early mornings. You hurt, you heal. You fall down, you pick yourself up again.

While these ideas are cliche, they're ample inspiration for Counting Crows on their first disc of new material in nearly five years, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings.

A heartfelt effort drenched with themes of regret and redemption, the disc celebrates the band's alternating identities — energetic folk-rockers (Saturday Nights) or emotive balladeers (Sunday Mornings).

Singer Adam Duritz continues to play the bohemian troubadour poet, offering emotional confessions on relationships and identity struggles.

Their "Saturday Nights" hit hard (not TOO hard) and fast and offer some of their most straightforward rock ever: wrestling with America's melting pot on "1492" ("I'm a Russian Jew American, impersonating Africans"), and life's overwhelming moments on the radio-friendly "Hanging Tree." Duritz searches for love's recognition on "Insignificant" and "Come Around" runs the gamut from disappointment to determination.

The hard charge and outward expression melts into the soul-searching introspection of their "Sunday Mornings" — confessing your flaws ("You Can't Count on Me"), longing for a sense of place ("Washington Square" and the lush "When I Dream About Michelangelo") and the heart-wrenching piano ballad "On a Tuesday in Amsterdam Long Ago."

Counting Crows' down-to-earth charm has always been key, and here the band has pulled off their most complete work since their seminal 1993 debut, "August and Everything After."

"Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings" is a most welcome return for Counting Crows.

Check out: With Duritz's most passionate vocal on the disc, "Cowboys" is a diverse and passionately driven fist-pumper that's poised to take its rightful place among the band's finest work.