In the three long years since their last release, "Chutes Too Narrow", The Shins have undergone a considerable shift in status thanks to the scene in the otherwise awful "Garden State", where Natalie Portman's character declares The Shins to be the band that will "change your life". Before this movie's release, they were a delightfully clever though unassuming indie-pop quartet from Albequerque who had garnered a sizeable fanbase through James Mercer's literate, idiosyncratic lyrics and knack for a winning hook, though I doubt they were anyone's idea of the kind of band that could make a breakthrough beyond the hipster in-crowd and into the mainstream. This is partly due to the fact that they were (and are) incredibly dull in a live setting with nary a trace of charisma or stage presence among them, often relying on the supreme quality of their songs to see them through without having to engage the audience. Listening to their new album "Wincing the Night Away", it's clear that Mercer has attempted to beef up their sound and experiment a little more this time; opener "Sleeping Lessons" starts out typically gently with soft lulling keyboards before exploding into life half way through in a manner which is reminiscent of the Arcade Fire track "Un Annee Sans Lumiere", and gives you the brief impression that you're gonna hear a departure from their tried and trusted formula on "Wincing". This is not the case. Despite mildly successful dalliances with hip-hop beats on "Sea Legs" and "Split Needles", the best tracks on the record are when The Shins do what they best; writing effortlessly catchy and melancholic guitar pop which the likes of "Phantom Limb", "Red Rabbits" and "Turn on Me" deliver in spades. A writer for Village Voice recently remarked that The Shins are a "good band plagued by claims of greatness", which I think is pretty much on the money - These guys were never meant to be world-beaters, and it seems to me that the unreasonable expectations placed on the band probably accounted for the unusually long delay between this record and the last one. Indeed, many long-time fans cried foul when "Wincing" first arrived on the internet in November, a classic example of ridiculous hyperbole building up a head of steam which no record could live up to. In my opinion, this record, though excellent in patches, pales in comparison to "Oh, Inverted World" and especially high-water mark "Chutes Too Narrow", with a few too many tracks that don't really go anywhere, but if you give it time to grow on you and live with it for a while, then it's charms are hard to deny.... Just don't expect it to change your life :.)
http://www.mediamax.com/dirkmcsteel/Hosted/PhantomLimb.mp3 - The Shins - "Phantom Limb" (mp3)
http://www.mediamax.com/dirkmcsteel/Hosted/TheShins-TurnOnMe.mp3 - The Shins - "Turn on Me" (mp3)
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