Broken Bells ~ live review

Broken Bells, ICA, Wednesday 3 March.

If two artists merge to become one, surely by default they’ll be a roaring success. Two groups of loyal fans, two distinct sounds, two histories of decent record sales. If you were clichéd, you’d call them a ‘supergroup’.

There are countless examples: shoegazing members of My Bloody Valentine and Jesus and Mary Chain forming the mighty Primal Scream. Plucky veterans Grohl and Homme colliding for Them Crooked Vultures. The really quite tame Monsters of Folk made up of Conor Oberst and M Ward. Broken Social Scene, made up of, erm, everyone. Admittedly, they’re all pretty super.

So it’s tricky not to be rooting for Broken Bells before even giving them a listen. The unlikely combination of The Shins’ James Mercer and Brian Burton (nee Dangermouse) sounds a tad weird but, since they had considerable success with their previous projects, Broken Bells are a rather safe bet.

The story goes that the pair met six years ago at a music festival. After much back-patting and approving nods, they decided they were totally music soulmates. Fast-forward to 2010 and they’re about to release their self-titled debut album after years in the studio.

Tonight’s gig at ICA is only the third time they’ve ever performed live and even though all I can see is Dangermouse – sorry, ‘Brian’s’ – afro bobbing about on the raised drum platform, the sound is so amazing I don’t care. Mercer’s sharp distinctive voice floats around the room, complimented by an accomplished, smooth band of guitarists, keyboardists and trumpeters (yesss!)

Opening with ‘The High Road’ from their truly wonderful album, the audience are as mesmerized by the projected sparkles of the stage backdrop as they are with the incredibly tight delivery of music from a band that are metaphorically in the potty-training stage.

Continuing with ‘Vaporize’ and ‘Your Head is on Fire’, Mercer rallies the crowd, encouraging some good old fashioned British boozing. The elusive Dangermouse does none of the talking, but is very much the heart of Broken Bells’ ethereal sound, swapping instruments and performing silhouetted against the backdrop like a true great.

Despite the fact that the band’s debut album isn’t even released at the time of the gig (it’s released 8th March) the sell-out gig receives a warm, familiar response from the crowd. Maybe it was something about the flowing keyboards and rolling drums that makes the Broken Bells sound like an old friend. That, and illegal internet downloading, of course.

And let’s not forget the bands legacy. The sound undeniably lifts heavily from The Shins, but packs more of a punch, maybe down to Dangermouse’s penchant for hip hop and electronica. Not happy with already being total legends, they decide to throw another one into the mix; playing Neil Young’s ‘Don’t Let it Bring you Down’ as the penultimate track was the heart-warming cherry on the cake.

Before you think this review is biased and that I’m some kind of raging Shins enthusiast, I must provide a counter-defence. I always found them to be too wishy-washy, but Broken Bells are a step up from anything Mercer and Burton have done prior. Their sound is distinct, uplifting and rich. Their album comes strongly recommended, so please give it a listen. Even if you do stream it illegally online.

Words by Natalie Hardwick