Gwen Stefani is the John Waters of the music world. She knows that people find her ridiculous and she thrives off of it, making music catchy enough to sing along to on the radio, yet still outlandish enough to get your friends to make of you for it. That’s exactly what made Love Angel Music Baby, Gwen’s official transition from ska princess to ghettofabulous pop queen, such a fun record, juxtaposing the ever-addictive techno jams “Bubble Pop Electric” and “Crash” next to, well, “Hollaback Girl.” And with the exception of a couple embarrassing moments, The Sweet Escape proves that Gwen’s love-me-for-my-weirdness formula of record making continues to be nothing short of genius.

At first, The Sweet Escape may sound merely like yet another tragic sophomore slump, but repeated listens will reveal its brilliant moments. Take first single/opener “Wind It Up” for example; the song initially sounds like a strange mashup of tacky mariachi samples, robotic faux-rapping, and yodel samples from The Sound of Music, but underneath its peculiarly mismatched surface lies one of the best dance tracks of the year. “Early Winter” sounds at first like a “Cool” rewrite, but Stefani’s keen sense for melodies on the song reveals itself the the third or fourth time around.

Ironically, whereas The Neptunes managed to redeem L.A.M.B.’s lesser tracks with the magic of production, no such luck here - both the awkward quasi-confessional “Orange County Girl” and “Brakin’ Up,” filled with hilariously forced cell phone double-entendres, sound empty and underproduced. If anything, The Sweet Escape proves that Gwen’s still got a “long way to go” before rolling out any pop masterpieces, but still, its occasional stumbles aren’t enough to keep Escape from being an overall awesome record.