I Feel Cream - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

I Feel Cream received mostly favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 74, based on 22 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Allmusic's Heather Phares gave I Feel Cream four out of five stars, noting that the album has "plenty of moments that aren't groundbreaking, but still show that Merill Nisker has a lot to say about sex, music, and pop culture nearly a decade after Teaches of Peaches was released." Los Angeles Times' Margaret Wappler commented that on I Feel Cream, Peaches "drops the Iggy Pop fetishism that distracted her last couple of albums and engages in elemental club throbbers, stripped down to equal parts fire and ice." She continued, "At times the minimalist compositions expose her limited range, but no one should be listening to Peaches for the pitch-defying melismas." Matthew Perpetua of Pitchfork Media opined, "Whereas it was beginning to seem that Peaches' shtick was an artistic dead end, there is now plenty of reason to believe that she may have the skills and vision necessary to produce interesting, emotionally affecting work well beyond menopause." Likewise, Slant Magazine's Eric Henderson rated the album three-and-a-half out of five stars, claiming that "maybe age has softened Peaches a tad, but if I Feel Cream is the result, it sounds more compelling and radical than any number of new iterations of 'sucking on my titties.'"

The Times critic Peter Paphides gave the album four out of five stars, expressing that "what strikes you on I Feel Cream is just how merely existing in a post-Gossip musical firmament has brought the Toronto singer's carnally empowered monologues within waving distance of the mainstream. And yet, with the exception of the clammy, catchy remonstrations of 'Talk to Me', this remains an album firmly rooted in the lineage of great electronic dance music." Tim Chester of the NME rated the album seven out of ten and wrote that "he notoriously hardcore sexual aggressor has swapped strap-ons for sentiment and turned all flaccid in the process, and guess what: it's quite... nice." Rolling Stone's Caryn Ganz described the album as "part Lil' Kim, part Lita Ford and all hot mess" and added, "Though it hits only a few different notes, Peaches' bawdy pop feels like a refreshing breath of filthy air." In a review for PopMatters, Erin Lyndal Martin referred to I Feel Cream as "a fun and worthwhile album, though is unlikely to change any minds about Peaches. Fortunately, that also means she shows no signs of losing her touch." Emma Warren of The Observer gave the album three out of five stars, stating, "Ideology aside, this is a diverse album that retains her trademark dirty electro but on collaborations with Simian Mobile Disco still delights." However, Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club graded the album an B− and felt that it "feels subdued and safe, a less-than-inspiring move for an artist who made her name by being neither." Drowned in Sound's Alexander Tudor rated I Feel Cream six out of ten and concluded, "Ultimately, Peaches shows herself developing, late in her career, but unlikely to infiltrate the market she's targeted."

Iguana magazine placed I Feel Cream at number 141 on its Albums of the Year 2009 list. It was ranked number 277 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll of 2009.

Spin listed the album at number six on its 20 Worst Album Titles of 2009 list, writing, "Keep it in your hot pants, Merrill, you're 42."