Posts Tagged ‘James Mercer’
Album Review: Broken Bells – “Broken Bells”
It’s a shame that Broken Bells had to release their debut album on the same day that Gorillaz dropped their latest, Plastic Beach (which I reviewed yesterday).
That’s because, as I’ve mentioned before, Broken Bells sounds strikingly similar to their cartoon counterparts much of the time, but without the wild eccentricity and excitement. Those comparisons are inevitable since one half of Broken Bells is Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, who produced Gorillaz’ epic album Demon Days. The omnipresent analog synths that are Gorillaz’ trademark are present here as well, which usually leaves the singers as the only major difference between the two groups.
But that’s a significant difference. Whereas Damon Albarn plays off his hushed, melancholic croon in Gorillaz, James Mercer, of the Shins, adds a greater range to the styling of Broken Bells.
But Broken Bells is not a rip-off of Gorillaz and deserves to be judged on its own merits.
Broken Bells: Gorillaz Jr.?
Broken Bells, the new group made up of Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) and The Shins’ James Mercer, will be releasing their debut self-titled album on March 9.
They have two songs from the album, “Vaporize” and “The High Road,” streaming over at their Myspace page. iTunes is also offering “The High Road” as their free single of the week, so go grab that.
Given that Burton has worked with Gorillaz in the past, producing their acclaimed album Demon Days, it’s no surprise that those influences come on strong in this project as well. In fact, “The High Road” sounds almost exactly like a Gorillaz track, only with Mercer singing instead of Damon Albarn. And that’s not exactly a bad thing, since Demon Days pretty much rocked. The main difference is that Broken Bells doesn’t seem to be embracing the whole electro-dance aspect of Gorillaz’ music, focusing instead on the moody, quirky part.
Track list for Broken Bells after the jump: