Addictive song: Vaporize by Broken Bells

Broken Bells: James Mercer and Danger Mouse

Broken Bells: James Mercer and Danger Mouse

Every once in a while, you have the radio on a good station while driving and although you really aren’t paying that much attention, some piece of music fights through whatever may be rambling through your head at the moment and you start focusing on what you are hearing. In my case when it happens, I hope (a) I don’t swerve and hit another car and (b) that it wasn’t so late in the song that I basically miss it and (c) it is one of those stations that not only doesn’t tell who is singing the song but doesn’t have the technology to make it show up on your radio.

This was one of those “once in a whiles” and neither a, b or c happened. Vaporize is an awesome song. Shit. If you go to their website you hear a song called The High Road (which automatically plays) and that song is almost just as addictive (but not quite as good in my mind). It is a really cool website with a visual in the main screen like a purple disco ball light (it is their album cover) which you can manipulate with your mouse.

So. Who the fuck is Broken Bells?

It is Danger Mouse (billed by his real name, Brian Burton) and James Mercer, the lead vocalist and guitarist for the The Shins.

Awesome combination.

Their sound is like the best of everything you love about The Shins (cause their not best is sometimes not good).

The pair decided to work together after meeting at some music festival in 2004 and finding they were fans of each other’s work. Utilizing the internet to introduce themselves and their new album, on December 14 they released an email update offering a link to the band’s web page for ‘further details’. On the morning of December 21, the band informed fans in an e-mail message of the release of their debut single “The High Road”, which was made available as a free download on their official site. Their album just came out on March 9, 2010 and you can hear it now on their website.

Written by Bruce