Broken Bells: Meyrin Fields

 
Broken Bells: Meyrin Fields

2011

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Meyrin Fields  2. Windows  3. An Easy Life  4. Heartless Empire



 This is  an ep  by Broken Bells...It clocks in at just under 12 minutes, but that's cool with me...I like ep's...They're short...And some of the best thing in life are short...

 

Like a brisk walk on an autumn afternoon...

...or Danny Devito...

 ...or the bus I rode to school everyday...

It's not real surprising that this sounds exactly like their debut album, since it's comprised of outtakes from that record, so if you like one, you'll probably like the other...It's odd to me that this also follows that album's format of a weaker first half and finishing  things off with a couple of stunners...

The title track opens the record, and I like the verses just fine, but that chorus seems a bit awkward...I get the feeling James Mercer couldn't think of a good melody for it, so he went the "sing along exactly to the main riff" route, which is a perfectly acceptable route sometimes, but not here... It feels like it should build to something more..

"The winner here is "An Easy Life," which is the type of chewy indie-pop song that would fit right at home on a Shins record...I want to take this song out to an expensive dinner! Start the night with  a nice, deep-red Grenache noir, Châteauneuf-du-Pape...Ah, a velvety symphony of Earthly tones....



..and for dinner I will order the Honey and Tahini Ganache with toasted sesame seeds...

"Red wine with fish?!?!"  You may be asking yourself?  '

Relax, I'm a man of exotic and distinctive tastes...Besides we'll be mixing the wine with 7-Up anyway...

Excellent...It appears our entree has arrived...Now let's pick up the forks to our left and...

AHHHH!!! IT'S COVERED WITH SOME SORT OF INSECT LARVAE!!! SEND IT BACK!! SEND IT BACK!!!

Awww, Screw it...Let's go to Pete's Fish & Chips instead...

On the way there we can listen to "An Easy Life" by Broken Bells...Enjoy...

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...