Jean Caffeine has been around long enough to get tired of being compared to other artists, particularly Patti Smith. Idee Fixe, unfortunately, isn't going to dispel that notion (as long as you throw in a little PJ Harvey and Liz Phair for good measure). Caffeine cops attitude, purrs, and snarls over barbed-wire rootsy guitars throughout, but she's at her best when she just surrenders to melody and sings, as in the hooky opener, "It's Not Nice Without You." Jean Caffeine the dark poetess, however, is much less interesting, as in the grating, talk-sing wordplay of "Want It, Want It." Much preferable are her laid-back, earnest vocals on the twangy "Getting Directions." A gritty run through Jon Dee Graham's "Big Sweet Life" scores as well. It seems that Caffeine doesn't like to play it straight for long, however, and art-damaged filler such as "Word Junkie" undermines Idee Fixe's strengths.
© Erik Hage /TiVo