Broken Bells: Broken Bells

 

Broken Bells:Broken Bells


2010

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. The High Road  2. Vaporize  3. Your Head Is on Fire  4. The Ghost Inside  5. Sailing to Nowhere  6. Trap Doors  7. Citizen  8. October  9. Mongrel Heart  10. The Mall & Misery


Debut by indie rock super-group Broken Bells...The band consists of Dangermouse (who I previously discussed in the Beck "Modern Guilt" section) and James Mercer from the Shins...

I gave this record a chance when it first came out and I just couldn't get into it that much for some reason...I think I went into it expecting more of James Mercer's shiny indie-pop, but the songs were more hazy and remote than I was probably ready for...

But about a year ago I was at my computer playing solitaire, doing the whole routine where you watch the screen fill up with the bouncing cards...

 ...Anyway, I had this album playing in the background and I suddenly enjoyed it so much that I played it again...and again...and again...and this time around I was really into it...That's why it's good not to discount shit so quick...If I had been more rash in my initial dismissal of the album, this would have ended up in the "Sell" pile along with my copy of Warrant's "Dog Eat Dog" and I would have missed out on the countless hours I've spent playing this record...



I think what might have made this fly so over my head back in 2010, was the fact that it's so damn back-loaded...All the good stuff doesn't happen until the end...

Not that the first half is bad or anything...There's certainly some cool moments (when James perfectly emulates a fussy Beach boy vocal arrangement at the end of "Your Head Is On Fire," or his unexpected falsetto on "The Ghost Inside")...But to me, the album really kicks into gear  with "October"  which makes great use of Mercer's crystal-clear, melodic voice and Dangermouse's downbeat sound-scapes. and the record doesn't let up until the supremely catchy post-punk/new-wave closing track "The Mall and Misery"... I think "The Mall and Misery" is the best thing James Mercer's ever done!

The track in-between these two, "Mongrel Heart", has the kind of great, yet understated chorus that you wish would just go on forever...And the rinky-dink keyboard hook is similarly excellent...When the big spaghetti-western break comes along, the album finally lives up to its initial promises...Hell, it far exceeds them actually...

So we end up with a quiet, interesting record that builds up to a storming finale....I can live with that... Let's check out "The Mall and Misery" by Broken Bells...