Regeneration is usually a thing of starfish and lizards, unless the music industry is involved. Time tells the story of countless, torrid band break-ups and duet demises only to be succeeded by new lead singers, a solo project or a super group.
The trend continues with "Broken Bells," the much hyped collaboration of The Shins' front man James Mercer and DJ and producer Danger Mouse — legally Brian Burton.
It didn't take long after The Shins' May 2009 shake-up — which swapped keyboardist Marty Crandall and drummer Jesse Sandoval for Ron Lewis and Joe Plummer — for talks of a new project to waft.
Mercer announced the collaboration last September, and the duo has been slowly releasing ominous tracks and cryptic Internet clues ever since.
On March 9, the self-titled album dropped to the delight of voracious Shins adorers who have waited a painful three years since "Wincing the Night Away" for fresh goods.
Yet, the 10-track debut, running just over half of a precious hour, may leave a handful of appetites unfulfilled.
The first track and single, "The High Road," gently eases audiences into the integration of Danger Mouse's beats and Mercer's vocals. The song is less wordy than a typical Shins' tune; don't expect a sequel to "Caring Is Creepy." Mercer croons the percussion-heavy chorus, "'Cause they know, so do I/ The high road is hard to find," over meticulously-timed clapping and arcade game bleeps. Danger Mouse's trip-hop expertise— skills honed in his Gnarls Barkley and Gorillaz stints — complements the voice and induces high hopes for the following nine tracks.
After a couple of uninterrupted listens, "The High Road" proves itself to be the album's peak point of originality. "Vaporize," the upbeat, horn-accompanied second track, reveals good intentions led down a path to mere Shins mimicry.
The remaining eight songs were equally recognizable. "Trap Doors" could have been interchanged with a track off of any of The Dandy Warhols' past three LPs.
The middle chunk of "Broken Bells" swings like a metronome between likable electronic moments and retro undertones, but nothing that MGMT or Super Furry Animals haven't delivered first.
Various intros and outros throughout the album do more than hint at a Beatles influence.
This phenomenon is ubiquitous in contemporary music and almost expected from Burton, who rose to fame with his 2004 mash-up of Jay-Z's "The Black Album" and The Beatles' "The White Album" — appropriately dubbed "The GreyAlbum."
Still, it is no grand innovation to leave listeners with 30 seconds of string instruments almost identical to those made famous in "Eleanor Rigby." The closing track of "Broken Bells," "The Mall and Misery," did just that. As Pablo Picasso observed, "Every act of creation is first an act of destruction." Picasso didn't listen to The Shins. The semi-break up of the New Mexico quartet may have spawned Broken Bells, but the product has been more imitative than creative. On paper and pop culture blogs, the concept of a Mercer-Mouse partnership reads brilliant. On record, the fruits of their labor sound unripe. With extra days in a brown bag or recording studio, the pair may have churned out a masterpiece. For now, the world must extract what satisfaction it can from "Broken Bells" and hope that the speculated 2011 return of The Shins makes up for its mediocrity.
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