Released 08/03/10

Columbia Records



The Shins were not a band that ever did much for me.  As such Broken Bells, despite the presence of Mr Omnipotent himself- Danger Mouse- did not inspire a great deal of enthusiasm, fronted as they were by James Mercer.  And at first this lack of keenness seemed to be well placed; it all seemed good enough but not a lot happened.  It slipped by on a bleepy bloopy wave of niceness but, much like The Shins, was missing that most important of elements; tunes.

But the more I listened to it, and repeated plays were ensured by the quality of album openers ‘The High Road’ and ‘Vaporize’, the more it became clear that album was a lot deeper than it first appeared, and that underneath the surface a warm concoction of soul, funk and 60’s pop psychadelica was fusing to create something pretty damn good.

The album is dictated by keyboard and organ (played by Danger Mouse) and a smattering of well placed trumpets, rather than the beats for which the man behind The Grey Album is most famed. 

It is these that lend the album its distinctly nostalgic feel (his sense of the past will not be surprising for any fans of The Black Keys).  Nowhere is this more apparent than on ‘Vaporize’, which sounds sounds like it could have come out of the same sessions for ‘Whiter Shade Of Pale’.  The tracks subject matter, that of leaving a mark before we ‘vaporize’, is also reminiscent of the attitudes of  that time; its aspirational, and the combination of organ, trumpets and harmonised chorus is one of the most joyful musical moments you’re likely to hear all year.

‘Mongrel Heart’ also benefits from, if you’ll pardon the phrase, a lovely bit of brass.  This time there’s a Morricone-esque sense of the epic in them, and the choir they’re set against.  Its quite in contrast to the first two minutes of the song, which is all gently pulsing beats and an echoed lyric from Mercer.  It’s an unexpected combination, but one that works and is a good summation of the album as a whole; this utilising of modern instrumentation and musical styles, but placing them amongst traditionally 1960’s characteristics. 

You’ll surely already have heard ‘The High Road’ so won't need a lyrical waxing on its laid-back vibe, plucked straight from the Sly And The Family Stone family of the feel-good.  You’d have to have a soul as dark as Marilyn Manson’s boxers not to appreciate it.  The same can be said of the chorus for ‘October’,  which actually rescues up what is until then a fairly plodding tune.  Once the chorus kicks in, though, it is an example of the simple joy of the harmony.  This song and ‘Citizen’ that precedes it bring to mind ‘The Vagabond’, Air’s collaboration with Beck on their 1000 Hz Legend album (a good thing).

It doesn’t all work, and stutters into blandness from time to time, especially in the middle where ‘The Ghost Inside’, ‘Sailing To Nowhere’ and ‘Trap Doors’ all slip by with barely a whimper.  But either side of these there are four or five songs of real quality that ably straddle the old and the new, and create a tangibly positive atmosphere without ever being schmaltzy.  Recommended.




7/10

Posted In Album Reviews, Mar 08 2010. Words - Jimbo