Around the USM campus you have probably seen ads for the new collaborative band Broken Bells. This highly advertised band is a techno/indie collaboration between the Shins’ James Mercer and award winning producer and self proclaimed auteur musician Danger Mouse, of Gnarls Barkley.
The album is a good concept, but the reality doesn’t live up. Mercer provides dynamic vocals and Danger Mouse has some interesting synthesizer back-up but unfortunately the back-up often drowns out the vocals making it hard to understand the lyrics as Mercer’s voice is reduced to just a series of noises.
Danger Mouse’s instrumentals are sometimes interesting but more often are repetitious and incidental. It sounds almost like for the majority of the tracks Danger Mouse either isn’t trying or is playing with a synthesizer and making Mercer sing a song to his beat.
The mostly forgettable tracks bleed into one another. The songs often feature simple happy little beats that are repeated over until the song’s end. They are great for background music but if you want to sit down and listen to something interesting, this CD is not what you are looking for.
The album is not without its good songs, however, the last three tracks on the album are well balanced between the techno beats and vocals. The album has a total of three good, memorable songs: “October,” “Mongrel Heart,” and “The Ghost Inside.” These songs have a good balance between the instrumental section and the vocals; they are also the least techno songs without the needless and distracting bells and whistles.
The album is a letdown because on paper it is an excellent idea – combing Mercer’s dynamic indie singing with Danger Mouse’s high quality techno/experimental instrumental pieces would form a kind of two man super group but instead it’s just another place for Danger Mouse to showcase his music with James Mercer singing barely audible in the background.
The album was leaked late last year and is all over the internet but it will be officially released on March 9.