Record Review: Broken Bells - S/T
Written by Russ Crandall   
Tuesday, 16 March 2010 19:45
It sounds like a pretty good combo - lead singer of indie pop magicians The Shins (James Mercer) teaming up with Danger Mouse, best known for making The Grey Album, producing several well-known albums (Beck's Modern Guilt, Gorillaz's Demon Days), and for being one half of both Gnarls Barkley and DangerDoom. Anyway, these two got together to create a collaborative project, and if your first thought was that they were trying to play off the success of The Postal Service, then we both had the same first thoughts. If your second thought was excitement because you really liked the song James Mercer did with Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse last year, "Insane Lullaby", then that is freaky and you shouldn't be reading my thoughts like that.

It not only sounds like a pretty good combo, it's also a pretty good album. Note the fact that I didn't say that this album is incredible, or life-changing. If you were mildly interested in Gnarls Barkley, you'll probably like this album. To me, it sounds like a Beck album but with James Mercer singing. My biggest complaint is that the collaborative aspect of this project seems to rest mostly on Danger Mouse's shoulders; there are hardly any moments where I felt that I was listening to a James Mercer song with Danger Mouse accompaniment. On the flip side, everything sounds like Danger Mouse's baby, and Mercer just laid down the vocal track. I could be way off, but I just don't hear any of the brilliance of the first two The Shins albums, or anything that matches that incredible hook from "Insane Lullaby".

There is, however, one moment of brilliance, and it isn't even Mercer at the helm; track five, "Sailing to Nowhere" (you can listen to it through the link above) has some fresh, exhilarating production. It weaves in and out of slow, downtrodden acoustic indie pop and bright, muffled 1960's AM radio pop, to incredible effect. With each listen, I'm transported to a moment that happened twenty years before I was even born.

The rest of the album is satisfying, and an easy listen. Just don't expect it to change your life.

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Release date: March 9th, 2010
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