The Daily Spin II

Broken Bells | Broken Bells

Welcome back to the Daily Spin. For the uninitiated, this is the series in which I review an album every day of 2025.

As was the case two years ago, my favorite song from each album can be found at the playlist linked here.

Album: Broken Bells (2010)

Artist: Broken Bells

Link:

A highly vaunted collaboration between the Shins’ James Mercer and Brian Burton (better known as Danger Mouse), I find most of Broken Bells’ first record a tad underwhelming, honestly. For all the hype around the band, I’m ultimately a little let down.

Broken Bells is undeniably a tale of loss, but outside of the absolutely fantastic opener, I’m left mostly in the middle, without a strong feeling towards most of the album. It lacks the oomph to really evoke any super-strong emotion, and with it loses most of the fire behind the record.

I will say that this album stands out much positively than many of its contemporaries - even if it isn’t totally to my liking, there’s something to be said for making an album that still sounds decent 15 years after its release, especially in such an ever changing genre as electronica has been over the past decade.

Rating: 7/10

Best Tracks: The High Road

Worst Tracks: The Ghost Inside