Gorillaz

Gorillaz may be a cartoon band, but their debut album is no gag. Dan the Automator, Damon Albarn and members of Cibo Matto and Tom Tom Club bring their combined influences to bear on an album that's stubborn, zany, cryptic and poptastic in equal measure. Hip-hop breaks tangle up with gnarled guitars and Albarn's faraway drawl, with hits like "Clint Eastwood" and "Re-Hash" posing as Beck with a Mo' Wax deal; odder cuts like "Sound Check (Gravity)," "Double Bass" and "Slow Country" wriggle down dub rabbit holes in pursuit of oddball, psychedelic trip-hop.

A goof not a concept, except insofar as they deny there's a difference ("Re-Hash," "Clint Eastwood") (Grade - **)