"Come and try my coconut, it's gonna blow your mind/Taste my ice cream," the duo moan over a hypnotic water-drip beat, piling on food metaphors so overripe someone should check the sell-by date. The church-bred siblings have strong, supple voices that intertwine nicely on such come-hither tracks as "Half," an Eddie Murphy homage about dividing up assets, and "Baby, Come On," a bouncy funk roller skate jam. But, even with hitmaker Kelly writing and producing most of this generic bedroom soul -- and fellow sex-obsessed mentor Ronald Isley (the band's manager and album's co-executive producer) sitting in on the grinding "Handle Your Business" -- Ice Cream is a bit short on novelty.

GIL KAUFMAN
(August 28, 2003)