Peaches, otherwise known as Lady Gaga’s sexed up mother, is one of those artists who commands respect but keeps failing to live up to the hyperbole. Naming an album ‘Fatherfucker’ is one thing but when the album is so bad you don’t want to listen to it, the effect is lost.

‘I feel Cream’, her fourth album, is make or break, you can’t sustain a career on one great tune alone (‘Fuck the pain away’). Having Simian Mobile Disco and Soulwax producing Peaches jizz stained electro filth makes sense, but despite having moments of sheer brilliance, the end result is similar to Gwen Stefani getting Stuart Price onboard or Madonna’s recent car crash with Timbaland; the producer runs the show whilst the singer is the supporting act extracting themselves from their comfort zone to sing the tune of their record label for improved record sales.

Having said that, in parts, it’s brilliant. ‘More’ is an impressively genuine nod to early New Order, the oppressive ‘Show stopper’, an obvious steal of Soulwax’s ‘E-Talking’ is an astonishing electronic thrash up against the wall so dirty sounding you’ll be taking hourly showers for a week after hearing it. ‘Talk to me’ is Patti Smith screaming over Soulwax style electro filth and is the nearest thing to a conventional pop song with Peaches angstily proclaiming “because I’m standing here, I‘ve got an open ear – why don’t you talk me” whilst ‘Lose you’ and the title track are pop gems that conjure up images of Donna Summer being taken to her first squat party by Debbie Harry , however, after these tracks you’ll be scratching around for something well…good.

After a while the gratuitous filth becomes tiresome, the Human League influenced ‘Trick or Treat’ has Peaches rapping about having diamonds in her muff and “never going to bed without a piece of raw meat”, it’s as lazy as it tiresome.

Unrequired heavy breathing and implications of being fucked in the guise of some ‘Oohs and ahhs’s isn’t enough to realise the teaches of peaches need to go back and be educated in better song writing and finally live up to the ongoing failure to back up constant show of potential.

Chris Todd

6/10