Austin Town Hall

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If you’ve been living in a cave for the past 10 years or so, here’s a music tip: There’s an indie rock band from New Mexico called the Shins and there’s a music producer from New York named Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton). They are both good at their respective positions and have enjoyed very lucrative careers. Well the romantic tale begins in 2004 in Denmark when Shins front-man James Mercer met with Burton and they discovered a mutual respect and fandom.  After years of playful collaboration in a secret, bunker-type studio, the result is virtually seamless.

The resources of Mercer and Mouse blend together in a way that is well thought out and intriguing as first, but it’s not life changing music. (For me, Chutes too Narrow changed my life) It is, at the least, very enjoyable. The record is no doubt a candidate for best album released so far; however just ask me about it at year’s end.  If you listen to the radio, chances are, you’ve heard the first single, ‘The High Road’.  The group also just began their tour with a stop at the Late Show with David Letterman (AKA How can anybody stand him?) performing the single live for the first time to great success. The group isn’t going to blow you away with their live performances, but no one should find that surprising.

The track ‘Your Head is on Fire’, pulls a page from Animal Collective with very Panda Bear-esque vocals and samples mixed in. This simple but effective layering technique falls away displaying some of the best of Mercer’s lyrics on the album and I find myself going back to this track in particular for repeated listens. ‘The Ghost inside’ sounds like the next Gnarls Barkley single/ Gorillaz until Mercer’s lyrics come back in about half way through. (How ironic that the Gorillaz new album was also released the same day?)

‘October’ and ‘Citizen’ are about as vintage Shins as we find on the new record, circa 2007. On both tracks we find intriguing lyrics of which Mercer is well known, though the latter, it is the only track that feels over-produced.  It’s really the only track that feels significantly different from the rest, though the final third contains wonderful musical dénouement.

‘Mongrel Heart’ with a good hearty bass line that drives the track and ‘The Mall and the Misery’ finish off the record strongly, but fall to make any real lasting impression for me. It is a smart record that holds a good tempo throughout, with each track holding an infectious beat which is becoming something of a Danger Mouse calling card. So at your next party,  if you were wondering  how to make the Broken Bells ‘cocktail’: Take one part Shins, one part Gnarls Barkley, and one part Gorrilaz, mix with ice and strain (for a smooth consistency), garnish with a little Panda Bear and serve in a high-ball glass (Nothing too classy). Repeat as needed.  Your buzz may not last as long as you’d like.

Austin gets 2 chances to catch the group at SXSW:

Wednesday March 17^th @ Stubbs – NPR’s Official Showcase

Friday March 19^th @ Lustre Pearl – Dickie’s/Filter Party

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Download: Broken Bells – The High Road [MP3]

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Over the last year, people have been suggesting that Surfer Blood might be the biggest band we hadn’t come across, leaving the band in the spot for breakthrough artist of 2010.  On Astrocoast, they live up to the hype, and in most cases, they far surpass what expectations we all had, creating one of the most colorful, yet playful, debuts we’ve come across in quite some time.

One would be hard pressed to pigeonhole this band at all, as they seemingly bounce from one spot to another throughout this 10 song debut.  For this listener, it sounds as if someone is channeling a Floridian soulmate of James Mercer of Shins fame.  There is something in the pitch in songs like “Floating Vibes” or especially in “Twin Peaks.” It’s not just the delivery of the lyrics, or the way the melody is approached, but it really feels as if the spirit of Mercer lies in there somewhere. “Twin Peaks,” by the way, is one ridiculously good song; you can listen to it on repeat, as I did, and never grow tired of it.

“Swim,” the album’s second track is such a bright moment that you can’t help but be won over by the fervent approach to bringing about swelling guitar waves and vocals that seem to echo through the room of your favorite local venue.  It’s this feeling of rawness that doesn’t seem forced, or steeped in some historical infatuation with bands of days gone by, though undoubtedly it does come from such moments.

“Take It Easy” comes like a close cousin to many of the songs of New York new wonders The Drums. Both bands have a club appeal that still seems rooted in the hallowed grounds of surf rock.  Like those New Yorkers, there is a certain vibrance to the writing itself, which moves it beyond pastiche, bringing a refreshing approach.  At this point, three songs in, the band should have completely won you over.

Near the end of the record, the boys slow it town just a hint, but the jangling of their guitars brings to mind a great deal of the work that came out of the Flying Nun label of New Zealand.  Perhaps the band is unaware of this, but that’s a sure-fire way to get straight into my heart, which allows me to look beyond the fact that the two 6 minute jams at the end, “Slow Jabroni” and “Anchorage” lag a little bit as far as pace goes.  Using time, these songs unfold into powerful pieces all their own.

All in all, this a sparkling debut from a band we know little about.  It’s full of playful tunes, whimsical lyrics, and load upon load of melodic hooks driving straight for your ears, and your heart. It’s refreshing to hear such a solid album arise beyond the hype, and fulfill on all the promise, which is precisely what Astrocoast does.  Based on this, Surfer Blood surely will be the breakout band we all heard they would be, and its deservedly so.

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Download: Surfer Blood – Swim [MP3]

A new song called “High Road” from the new Danger Mouse & James Mercer (Shins) project has been spreading over the internet today.  The duo recently announced that they were teaming up as Broken Bells and plan to release their debut self-titled LP on March 9th via Columbia Records.  Pre-order options are available on the new Broken Bells website.  This new jam sounds a lot like…. well a lot like what you would expect to hear if Danger Mouse#mce_temp_url# produced a Shins album.  Duh.

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Download: Broken Bells – The High Road [MP3]

What?   You still listen to THAT album?  That record is so 2004!  Well, that’s okay, because we really like that one too, which is why we decided to come up with a list of our favorite albums of the last decade (2000-2009).  Sure, these might not be YOUR favorite records, or the most critically acclaimed, but we sat down and really thought out every record from the past ten years that we keep coming back to in our collections.  You’re likely to disagree with some of these, and we won’t tell you we’re absolutely right we just know that these happen to be OUR favorites.  If you think we totally blew it here, feel free to tell us so, but be nice, as our egos are kind of fragile.  Follow the jump for more.

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One of our favorite labels, Merge Records, has compiled a great set of covers as part of their subscription series SCORE! Unlike the rest of the series, Merge will be offering up this series of covers to the masses, but only a limited amount will be released. Not to mention, all proceeds will go to the charity of the curators choice! Good tunes and humanitarianism? Count us in. Head over to pre-order the album now. And in the meantime, check out this new Shins cover of Tenement Halls. 

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Download: The Shins (Tenement Halls Cover) – Plenty if Never Enough [MP3]

Some poor kid is listening to Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life” for the first time today and he wants to like the song, he really does. The problem being that each time he hears Iggy say “I got a lust for Life”  he pictures some nine year old cracker with a goofy smile running down the deck of a cruise liner. Thanks to the marketing gurus at Carnival Cruise Lines that song is most likely ruined for a generation. I know nowadays the kids like to fall all over themselves defending their decision to sell out, and I’m not saying that I wouldn’t punch my grandmother for a little extra bread, but it’s never a pretty sight when you see an artist you respect making a sales pitch for some crappy chain restaurant. Like it or not, when an artist lends their music to a commercial it then loses its creative and artistic merit and is relegated to the status of jingle. So here it is; after the jump is a list of five of the more heinous indie rock sellouts.

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