Catching Up: The Shins / Broken Bells

I always chuckle when I get asked how I can keep up with all that music. I chuckle because I know that the reality is that I don’t , can’t and that there are a whole lot of folks who listen to and know a whole bunch more about music than me (actually most of my closest friends all fall in that category). As evidence of that, back when all the best of the decade lists were coming out, I noted how much of Paste’s Best of the Decade List I didn’t have/know and what I might pursue based on that (and got some collective on-line eye rolls from a few of said friends).

So I am going to try to pull off a few quick posts on bands that I have been listening to in an effort to begin catching up with the music of the oughts. No in-depth reviews, just some quick thoughts and then (the real point of these posts) questions about where to go next with each band as in the missing essentials posts I had once initiated at The Room and then didn’t follow thorough on.

First up, is The Shins (see—I am so not on top of things). From Paste’s list came Chutes to Narrow released way back in 2003 which unfortunately for me means that it was around for seven years before I heard it. This is an absolutely great pop album that has so much going on both musically and lyrically. As Pitchfork noted in their review:

Not simply an excellent album, Chutes Too Narrow is also a powerful testament to pop music's capacity for depth, beauty and expressiveness.

For me, the key thing is that you could strip this album down and the songs would make for a great acoustic guitar, singer-songwriter album (most evidenced in their slow songs like “Pink Bullets”) , but then you add in all kinds of wonderful rock-pop production and you get an album with range of sound that is infectious.

So the question was which direction to head in pursuing more James Mercer and Shins music. The obvious answer was probably to go back to their debut album, but it just so happened that there was all this talk about the new Mercer/Brian Burton (aka Danger Mouse) project, Broken Bells, and it sounded interesting--so that ended up where I went next.

It is a perfectly fine album and there are some songs on it that I quite like, but overall it was a bit of a disappointment. Perhaps I really was just seeking a Shins album or something a bit more cutting edge. The songs here benefit from very talented folks both musically and in terms of production, but I doubt you will see this album on anyone’s best of a decade list. As Pop Matters notes:

Broken Bells may not supersede either Mercer’s or Burton’s respective main gigs, but as a side project that felt implausible to hit as markedly as it has in the first place, it’s a minor victory for both parties involved.

So I believe the next stop for me--and there will be one--will be to step back to the Shins’ debut album Oh, Inverted World!

Agree/disagree?

And while you contemplate that, here are a couple from Chutes (from the rockin to the mellow) and the opening track from Broken Bells which in many ways is the highlight.

So Says I (Buy Chutes to Narrow)
Pink Bullets

The High Road (Buy Broken Bells)

Avett Brothers Backwards, Part II (long overdue)

To say that I have a backlog of potential posts on music in my mind would be quite the understatement. When I re-formulated the blog to include more than just music, I thought this would allow me to post more regularly with music mixed in, but somehow music posts always take longer and I don't seem to get to them. But I will not give in! Post even shorter, even less-insightful posts about music? Sure. Give in? Never!

So let's start with the fact that it has been since last Halloween (as in two and a half months, several blizzards, and a host of holidays ago) that I posted Part I of this supposed two part post on the Avett Brothers. (As The Engineer would say: sheesh!) If you can recall that far back, I noted that I had not owned any music by these fine musicians and was in the process of exploring them startng with their most recent album first and working backwards. Payton commented (back on the dreaded WordPress blog) that he hoped the next album I was listening to was Emotionalism as every song on it was a gem.

It was, and he is right.

I know this sounds silly, but part of the beauty of this album is that it is so, well, emotional. And not just any emotions, but a lot of different ones--love, shame, anger, anticipation, remorse, sadness and on and on. Many of them are connected with growing up, learning and self-reflection, which anyone who has read anything I have written about music knows is one of my favorite themes. Here for instance is a favorite verse from "The Weight of Lies":

I once heard the worse thing
A man could do is draw a hungry crowd
Tell everyone his name, pride, and confidence
But leaving out his doubt
I’m not sure I bought those words
When I was young I knew most everything
These words have never met so much to anyone
As they now mean to me

Verses such as that are made all the more powerful by great song construction and singing with beautiful harmonies. The songs invite you in, envelop you and take you for their own individual rides. They make you ache, but leave you hopeful.

The album is also put together really well in terms of song order and theme. It moves nimbly from ballad to blues to upbeat bluegrass. Even the "Pretty Girl from Chile" which moves from country-flamenco (is that a genre? or redundant in some way?) to a minute and a half of rocking metal falls just right in the midst of the other songs. And as usual with albums that I find so compelling as albums it is hard to know what to sample to really reflect the effort as a whole. It is also a bit difficult because many of these songs speak directly to me and so it is not hard to get all personal about them.

So here are three from later in the album to give you a sense. Suffice it to say that I wish I had written "All My Mistakes" (on a regular basis). Following that "Living of Love" is perfectly time and beautifully crafted and "Pretty Girl from SD" gives you a sense of the fun side of this album.

All My Mistakes

Living Of Love

Pretty Girl From San Diego

The bottom line here is that if there happens to be anyone else out there who managed to not notice this album when it came out a couple years back, just pick it up already.

And for those who are already AB connoisseurs, what is the next album I should sample?