Jean Caffeine: Geckos in the Elevator

Jean Caffeine returns with her first album in a decade and the result is a collection that is both slanted and enchanted. Caffeine’s vocal idiosyncrasies at times create a sense of listlessness and her preference for simple Reed and Smith-like arrangements offers more of the same. When it works, almost inexplicably, on tracks such as “Hey Austin” and “Mary O’ Shea” and punk rock memoir “Sadie Saturday Night” the results are undeniably memorable and winning. When it doesn’t, such as on the too-long “Love Letters From Laos” and the closing, largely disposable “Revolving Door” it really doesn’t. Charming but uneven.