After the Disco
4 February 2014
3 stars out of 5
Broken Bells = Brian Burton (a.k.a. Danger Mouse) + James
Mercer (of The Shins). In a perfect world this would be a collaboration which
produced fine fruits, combining the strengths of both artists into a delicious
plate of juicy funk and tasty pop. Unfortunately, something must have gone
wrong somewhere between the planting of the seeds and the harvesting of the
crop, for the resulting still life is still and lifeless.
The mostly uninteresting “Perfect World” introduces the
record, a harkening back to the New Wave, though lacking much energy or
inspiration. It’s a worrying start. “After the Disco” is equally dull and drab,
drowning in watered-down production and boring instrumentation. One wonders if
DM was even present in the studio for the recording as it contains none of his
usual creativity. “Holding on for Life” features a chorus of Bee Gees
sound-alikes. An attempt to cash in on the lucrative (but god awful) Daft
Punk/Justin Timberlake voyage into the seas of cheesy disco? More stale cheese
from the ‘70s emerges on the Eagles-tinged “Leave It Alone,” though admittedly
this is probably the best track on the album for Mercer’s vocals. Things become
a bit more promising with “The Changing Lights,” a decent track built around
some dribbling percussion. “No Matter What You’re Told” finally delivers on the
promise of the super duo, a smart and sharp ditty full of lively performances
and inspired arrangements. The problem is that we have had to wait through
eight tracks of mediocrity to get to this point, and probably would have been
better off just getting the one song for our iPods and leaving it at that.
The album closes on the stronger “The Remains of Rock and
Roll,” but it’s basically too little, too late at this point. While the second
half of the album is stronger than the first, that’s a bit like saying that wet
toilet paper is stronger than slightly wetter toilet paper. While nothing here
is bad per se, almost all of it is infuriatingly bland. It’s advised to wait
for fresher fruit from other vendors.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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