Can James Mercer not sound like The Shins?
In 2010 we’ll see a number of anticipated albums come out such as the new Hot Chip due out in early February. But one you may not be aware of is an album that is the product of a unique collaboration – James Mercer (lead singer of The Shins) and Danger Mouse. They are calling themselves, Broken Bells.
An interesting combo, but hey, so was the announcement that Cee-Lo Green and Danger Mouse were working together oh so many years ago. But what’s a bigger challenge for DM this time around is dealing with the notion that you can take James Mercer out of The Shins but can you take The Shins out of James Mercer? Lets face it, his vocals are the signature sound of The Shins ever since “Oh, Inverted World” was forced upon Zach Braff’s listening pleasure by Natalie Portman in the move Garden State.
Per usual in this day and age, we get a chance to decide on how Danger Mouse and James did in avoiding the obvious comparisons to James own band. But then again, is it really such a bad thing if all this album does is come out sounding like a Shins album?
Listen to “The High Road”
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Bonus Listen: “Vaporize”
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Thoughts?
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Thanks for the addition of Vaporize. I heard The Higher Road this morning on NPR’s All Songs Considered blog, and I have to say that I became much more excited for this as opposed to Vampire Weeked’s Contra due out next week…
I think there will be a few people who are looking for something beyond the Garden State m.o. that James Mercer is known for, but for most of us, it’ll just be an additional chance to lap up as much Shins music as we can.
I never was sold on Vampire Weekend. I like the songs but they get old quick. I can get about 3 songs deep on their album and then that’s it for me.
Of course we want to hear something new and unique from James Mercer. But if the Broken Bells album comes out like a tweeked Shins record, who cares!! Mercer is brilliant enough to weave his creativity into just about anything, and the outcome being damn good. His vocals are going to sound like shins obviously. But with DM’s fusion this should satisfy anyone who loves great hooks, smart lyrics, and vocals that know no boundaries!!!!