Earlier today, Broken Bells – a relatively new project from Danger Mouse and James Mercer of The Shins – announced their first ever live performance, going down tonight at the Fold In Bootleg Theater in LA. Unfortunately, it looks like tickets were sold out as of 10:30 this morning.
But hopefully some sort of mini-tour will be announced soon to accompany the release of their self-titled debut Broken Bells, which is set to drop on March 9, 2010. You can pre-order the album now, and I believe that the first single, “The High Road,” is currently free to download as an iTunes single of the week. I’ve been listening to the record for a couple of weeks now and it is really dope. Apart from the single, which is also the opener, stand-out tracks include: the likely follow-up single “Vaporize” (hear the ending bass-line from Grizzly Bear’s “Ready/Able” in there?), which is up on their Myspace page; “Mongrel Heart,” which could be a lost Cure track or something; and “Your Head Is On Fire.” I don’t know whether it sounds more like a psychedelic-rock-meets-hip-hop-beats masterpiece or just a Shins record with better production and more basslines, but either way the whole thing just works. Definitely check it out. Here’s the video for the first single, “The High Road,” which premiered online January 27, 2010 and is directed by Sophie Muller.
Broken Bells – The High Road:
-Drew
East Village to Brooklyn 