#10 Album Of 2010: Broken Bells - Broken Bells

Broken Bells

Broken Bells
Sony Records.

Original SCQ Review

The first time I heard this much-hyped concoction of Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins was through a leak in early February, watching smoke waft in the pale afternoon light of a friend’s open-balcony. ‘The High Road’ was all I really took from that listen, but how that shrugging impression morphed into one of SCQ’s top records of the year would be chronicled over the following month, as online streams of Broken Bells comforted me before I marched to work amid winter’s slumber.

Was I alone in expecting an entire James Mercer / Danger Mouse collaboration to sound upbeat and slightly urban like ‘The Ghost Inside’? I don’t think I was, judging from the many dissatisfied critic and fan reviews in which each writer fought to find a different tactic of saying that something’s missing.

That “something” is jubilation, happiness, a satisfied state-of-mind that Broken Bells, as a supergroup, were entitled to thrive on the shoulders of. And this self-titled debut has its moments of relief, on the bridge of ‘Citizen’ or on the George Martin-esque symphonic close of ‘Sailing To Nowhere’. A love of the Beatles may have brought Brian Burton and James Mercer into each other’s lives but a pervasive loneliness bonds them as the cosmically disenfranchised Broken Bells. No matter how grounded or romantically devoid these ten songs are, their arrangements provide elbow room to keep searching.

Broken Bells - Broken Bells (Spring Records 2010)

Broken Bells

Broken Bells
Sony Records.

SCQ Rating: 84%

For a few years, my only impression of The Shins was tied into my admiration for Natalie Portman, as I figured you have to be a pretty great actress to convince a restless generation that The Shins are the greatest thing ever. It was a half-joke mostly told because I’d never felt one way or another about the James Mercer-fronted indie-rock band; their most celebrated songs merely pleasant place-settings for a mixtape’s cool-off point. That I had a similarly uncommitted knowledge of Danger Mouse (AKA Brian Burton) and what he’s about makes my interest in Broken Bells, the duo’s collaborative debut, more than a little bewildering. Even for those with an intimate knowledge of each author’s expertise, Broken Bells is a patient revelation.

The emphasis journalists have placed on this self-titled effort being the result of one-on-one collaboration from the writing to mixing stage is an important one to distinguish from the mp3-trading, Postal Service method that so many acts rely on. Mercer essentially moved into Burton’s Los Angeles residence, crashing sporadically over the past year and a half to write and record upwards of thirty songs. Another comforting truth behind Broken Bells is that this creative partnership is no one-off; they’re a forward-looking band already hinting that many leftover tracks that didn’t gel on the first album might see the light of day on a forthcoming release. Amazingly, this prolific mentality shows no signs of rush or fatigue across Broken Bells’ ten tracks; in fact, these songs camouflage their ambitious streak under some pretty heavy moods and lyrical sentiments (the numbing existentialism behind ‘Citizen’, the restless cynicism motivating ‘Your Head Is On Fire’). Anyone who, like me, didn’t anticipate such daunting themes from a Danger Mouse-related project can appreciate how these sad-sack moments, which arc convincingly throughout the album’s thirty-seven minutes, compliment the radio-ready staccato rhythm guitar of ‘The Ghost Within’ or the Beatles-esque orchestration that pokes into ‘Sailing To Nowhere’. Is this a slick bedroom record or a deceptive party soundtrack? Which end of this temperamental spectrum trumps the other? That such mellow emotions merge with ease to stylish, peppy instrumentation makes Broken Bells a multi-layered success, complex but accessible.

In an interview that has seemingly disappeared from the web, Danger Mouse stated that one of his many intense conversations with Mercer centered around a recent NASA report claiming that our entire solar system is but a link in a chain of millions, a fact which likely relieves as many people as it depresses. With such curious and open-minded discussion, it’s no surprise that Broken Bells is as varied and downright cosmic, with well-rounded compositions always snooping into the outer envelope of left-field pop. The duo’s willingness to explore, whether it be Mercer’s exciting vocal turns (Shins fans won’t forget an unexpected falsetto move...) or Danger Mouse’s magician’s cap of sonic maneuvers, ensures this one of the best debuts of the year.