Ah, the all-conquering supergroup. In 2009 we saw plenty of them: The Dead Weather, Monsters Of Folk, Them Crooked Vultures, even the downright hilarious Tinted Windows (look it up comedy fans – Smashing Pumpkin James Iha jams alongside Hanson brother Taylor). We’ve seen every kind of rock mongrel you could possibly breed then, but Broken Bells is different. For a start, it’s got someone called Danger Mouse in it.
The esteemed producer, real name Brian Burton, joined forces with Shins man James Mercer six years ago to form Broken Bells and since then, Beck and Modest Mouse collaborations respectively notwithstanding, the duo have found the time to strum up 37 whole minutes of experimental melodic rock.
Now, here’s the fun part: Burton’s got two Grammys. Natalie Portman told yer man off Scrubs that Mercer’s song ‘New Slang’ would change his life. So you’re probably expecting either a lavish work of pompous brilliance or a great honking mess. Relax, Broken Bells lies comfortably in the middle.
Slide guitars, ’80s synth and waltz-worthy strings are the building blocks and are sustained with lashings of groove. The fabulously wild ‘Mongrel Heart’ bears a Spaghetti Western underbelly, while the multi-talented Mercer sounds like a new man on misshapen ballad ‘The Ghost Inside’ and the eerie but lovely ‘Sailing To Nowhere’.
All told, Broken Bells is a bit of a blur. There are moments of pure chill, there’s computer game quirk, and even Pet Sounds-like fare. On first listen it doesn’t come together, but believe me, it will. The hazy melodies The Shins robbed from Simon and Garfunkel are gone, as is the Gnarls Barkley pluck, but they’ve been replaced by sneakily catchy riffs and layers of both assured indie and otherworldly electronica.
Broken Bells doesn’t recoil from Mercer and Burton’s past work. Rather, it celebrates their individual strengths, fusing the brain juice of two established artists to thrilling effect.