When it was announced that Britt Daniel (Spoon), Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade, Handsome Furs) and Sam Brown (New Bomb Turks) were teaming up for a set of new, collaborative material, it sounded like one supergroup that might actually work. And it almost does—except, weirdly, A Thing Called Divine Fits is all but void of vibrancy.
Daniel and Boeckner trade off on vocal duties and guitars, while Brown provides the group’s decisive backbone. Guest Alex Fischel contributes the pulsating, anachronistic synth lines that lend the album its most obvious appeal. Underneath the new-wavery lie decent, well-structured pop songs—unsurprising, given Daniel and Boeckner’s musical history.
Yeah, A Thing Called Divine Fits does a fine job of utilizing its members’ many strengths. It’s confident, well-balanced and, despite the unabashed ’80s fuckery, it exists in the here and now. But it’s tough to recall a damn thing about the record after it’s over. A disappointing development, given these dudes’ proven abilities. I don’t wanna say the supergroup never works, but: The supergroup never works.
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