Brightest Young Things

For the readers: From the moment I get up to the moment I go to bed, I am constantly listening to music which ranges anything from Queens of the Stone Age to Matt & Kim to Cut Copy. I am in constantly fishing around for new music whether it be recommended from my friends, namely Cale, or a band I see open up for a headliner at a show. Generally the spectrum includes, but it is not limited to, anything that Josh Homme has his hands in. If he made an album with the Hanson brothers, I'd probably love it - just sayin'...now peep this:

Rating system
0 stars – Complete and utter garbage
1 star – Best just not to ever press play, save your ears for another day
2 stars – Not completely atrocious, but one you’ll probably forget about as soon as it’s over
3 stars – Good, but not great, likely with some excellent songs and others you’ll skip right through
4 stars – Damn good album, one you’ll definitely want to enjoy again and again
5 stars – Instant Classic

The much anticipated James Mercer/Danger Mouse super-group, known as Broken Bells, has its debut album set for release on March 9^th. NPR has graciously offered to stream the album in its entirety before the self-titled drops in stores next week, and Cale posted a B-side as the song of the day earlier this week. Being a Shins/Gnarls Barkley fanatic, I jumped at the opportunity to review this hyped-up album for all of you lovely folks.

“High Road” was released as the band’s first single in late December and holds up well as a first taste of what the duo has to offer both to the public and on the album itself. This is exactly what you expect to hear from these two – almost like Brian Burton (Danger Mouse) produced a Wincing the Night Away B-side, resulting in one of the better tracks on the duo’s album.

However, the collaborative effort seems to fizzle out a bit shortly after these opening tracks, with a collection of slow-funk jams that, while quite listenable, just drag out of tempo and could use another jolt of indie-pop. But the album rebounds well, picking up a bit towards the end with more promising tracks such as “Mongrel Heart” and “The Mall and Misery”. The synth and new wave vibes of these two closing tracks are excellent assets to the album. All in all, a 1:2 ratio of “awesome” to “meh, this ain’t too shabby.”

In total, the newly formed Mercer-Burton alliance is one to be applauded, providing an enjoyable mixture of genres and perspectives; running in at just less than 40 minutes, the duo present a short and relatively tight album with a few truly memorable moments. On the traditional BYT rating system (see above) with a 5-stars worthy album being OK Computer and a 0-star being Tear, Love & Tenderness, I would rank Broken Bells with a well-deserved 4 stars. The band has also decided to package their album quite nicely - they're offering a "deluxe" edition (a bit pricey at $40) which includes extras like posters, postcards, stickers and the album itself. If you are like me and cannot justify paying $40 for that cool but moderately expensive bundle, BB has also offered two smaller, more affordable packages: the CD ($12) and vinyl + soft, digital copy ($20) both of which come a limited edition poster. Pre-order yours here.