With so much advance hype about Broken Bells, it’s not surprising that we felt underwhelmed by their recently released self-titled debut album (Columbia).
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The psychedelic folk pop project of Shins frontman James Mercer and superstar producer/artist Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton) was one of SXSW’s most buzzed-about acts. And we’re glad we gave them a chance to redeem themselves.
While the album comes across as a touch antiseptic and restrained, the tunes came alive onstage. Stripping away a few of the production layers and adding the oomph of a full band allowed the songs to shine. Definitely worth giving a second shot if you dismissed them the first time.
