Oh, Inverted World; How Broken Bells Turned Me Back Into a Shins Fan

It all started with the movie Garden State. A movie that everyone loved and I have no idea why. I mean, it's a great movie, but it has to be one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen in my entire life. I file this movie in the 'I've seen it once, so I don't have to see it again' category, because on a whole, I like for my movie-going experiences to be pleasant. I do not like to cry or be depressed. Fuck. Who does?! But that is where my loathing of The Shins started. 

When Natalie Portman and Zach Braff are in the doctor's office waiting room and she tells him he has to hear this one song, "New Slang," it will change his life. Disagree. That is by far the WORST song on that album and it would not (did not) change my life. The fact that this song I loathe was used in this movie that makes me want to cry just turned me to off. I had that album three years before Braff put that God-forsaken song in his movie. And the movie only intensified my distaste for not only the song, but James Mercer and the entire album. Like a snowball effect my hatred kept building every time I'd watch the movie. I was living in New Jersey at the time, blocks from where Braff grew up, rueing (is that a word?) the day he was born. A year later I moved out of NJ and never listened to the album or watched the movie again.

Fast forward to Spring of 2010. I was working for a mastering studio in Chelsea and one of the engineers told me about this album he just mastered. He thought I would like it because "it has the guy from The Shins on it." Clearly I had never expressed my disdain for The Shins in his presence. I thought to myself why the fuck would I listen to an album that contains a member of a band I absolutely loathe? Well, the answer is I wouldn't. And I didn't. For about 3 months after the album came out. One day I was going through my CDs and came across Broken Bells' self-titled album and thought I'd try it, in the privacy of my own home, where no one would know if I secretly liked it. The first track, "The High Road," was it. It was all I needed to basically fall head over heels in love with James Mercer, again. Fuck. What have I done?! His voice used to bother me so much, it would make me sick. Now, I'm staring googly-eyed at my speakers wishing he was singing in front of me. It happened. Hell hath frozen over. I didn't immediately run back to The Shins. Matter of fact, I held my ground two years through 2012 and the release of Port of Morrow. And then I heard the single in a commercial or a movie or something. "Simple Song" ruined my hatred. I listened to that song over and over and over. Eventually listening to the entire album and liked it. Sigh. No, loved it. The wall came down and I became a fan of The Shins. Again.

How did this happen? His voice is the same. But something was so different about Broken Bells that it allowed me to forget about how much I hated him and The Shins (and Garden State). I still don't like "New Slang," and I don't think I ever will, but I've decided to put the disgust I have for that song aside and see the band for everything else they have contributed to the world.