These Broken Bells need no repair

I have to admit that my dog has been getting a bit neglected on the walk front these days. Luckily, my wife takes him running now and again and my daughter chases him around the house all day long. Work has been hectic so instead of rocking out while walking the dog, I have been computer programming to the beat of my tunes. Check out what has been frequenting my playlist.

James Mercer from The Shins and producer Danger Mouse came together and formed Broken Bells and I certainly hope this is not one of those frequent one-and-done side projects. I have long been a fan of The Shins sparkly guitar indie-rock. But some of the tracks on their recent albums (Sea Legs on Wincing the Night Away) were starting to sound a bit more beat heavy than fans of Oh, Inverted World would have expected. I liked these songs but thought they interrupted the flow and tone of a Shins album. James Mercer lets this side of his music all the way out of the bag with this collaboration and it totally works. Instead of sparkly guitars and spare harmonies, we get beat heavy sampling and almost choir-like backing vocals. Check out the first single:



Another great song (with a strange video):