Garfield

Grade:

B+

Sunday night, The Strokes were running late from Vegas for their show at Mesa Amphitheatre, so opener Adam Green took vocal duties as Ben Kweller and his band busted out the Beach Boy's 1988 hit "Kokomo" to kill time.

The fact that most spectators in their early 20s had to remember back to their grade school years in '88 when "Aruba/Jamaica/Ooh/I wanna take you ·/" was a staple on popular TV and radio is a testament to the irreverence of the solo work by Green, singer for the indie-rocking Moldy Peaches.

"Oh, the mirror always shows/There's a stranger in my clothes," sings Green on "Bartholemew." It would be hard to imagine a stranger stranger singing these lyrics from songs with titles like "Apples, I'm Home," "," and "Mozzarella Swastikas."

The "Swastikas" song is surely the reason for the parental advisory on the album's sleeve, with talk of people relieving sexual frustration on a cracker that becomes edible for one lucky lady as the chorus jangles into Green's universal utopic vision, crooning "I'll be getting head/Under the rainbow."

Most of the songs simply consist of Green and his guitar, with some drums, backing vocals, clarinets, bass and electronic sounds sprinkled around for good measure. The left-field abstract lyricism, soft vocals and swinging chords on Garfield could possibly award Green a comfortable guest slot as a walking minstrel in the "Land of Make-Believe" on a very special PBS episode of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood Presents: The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test."