The Shins - Wincing The Night Away

See, I like the Shins, but I don't love the Shins, because I can't get past the feeling that they were created by a record executive in an attempt to appeal to a very, very specific demographic.

Chuck Taylors? Check. Elvis Costello glasses? Check. O Inverted World? Check. It's like standard issue, along with the Garden State soundtrack and a copy of The Catcher in the Rye.

I can't complain, though. They've got some nice stuff, and the number of songs of theirs that I genuinely like roughly corresponds to the number of Coldplay's. Still, if I'm ever stranded on a desert island and can take with me only one melancholy British band, it's gonna be Travis. Even though they're from Scotland.

Bob, you're completely wrong. But damn are you a good writer.

Jessica if you can only take one melancholy British band to your deserted Island you would never be allowed to take the shins because they are from New Mexico.

Until Zach Braff reviews this album I will not listen to your petty judgments and false views of this wonderful band. It is a new sound with a lot of the good things of the previous albums tied in. I also feel that you should chill on passing judgment on an image, if that were what album reviews were about we would still be talking about Ray Boltz' mullet.

John, you ignorant slut.

Um...I meant, thank you.

But Paul, can't we make fun of Ray Boltz' mullet all the time? I know I do....

**looks around for Billy Ray Cyrus & Joe Dirt**

i consider my wife to be a great judge of musical taste, ability and character. she was going to download some Shins from ITunes the other day as both she and I had heard good things but after scrolling through the tracks, she gave this indifferent look toward me, shrugged and said 'no point' and moved on. i can compLETELY see where Bob is coming from. nothing distinct and even though subtlety can speak volumes in good music...the subtlety here seems to be linked more to mediocrity.

the only redeeming feature about the Shins is Zach Braff's shameless endorsement of them that seems to be magically powering their career because...Zach Braff MUST know what good music is - "clearly, respectfully" (Jimmy Fallon playing 'Dennis Hope' in "Almost Famous").

Oh, and if I in any way sparked any controversy between Bob, John, Jessica or Adam (*glancing around the room nervously to see if Adam is somehow flying in the air above me, watching me type this and drinking my 4th coffee*), I apologize. Pleasure writing/working with y'all.

matty

No disresect intended to the person who said this but ... seriously you are waiting on Zach Braff reviews the CD before you will consider the opinion of other people? I agree in the past he has endorsed decent music and if i heard he thought a band was good then i would probably give it a chance.. but really, i think its ridiculous to put so much faith in what one person says about a a particular CD. You should start to develop your own opinions rather than relying on a celebrity to tell you what you should or should not listen to.

Wow! this sounds like a lot of ultra hipsters that are just to cool for school. Sure, you just don't go in for all that hype. Go look at your cd collection and rethink that. What the Hell? The record was released on Subpop! Do you know what it takes for a record released on Subpop to do this well? Quality! They don't have a billion dollars to push an album down our throats. This isn't a major label executives creation to pull the wool over the eyes of the cool kids. Just listen to the writing, because it is incredible. Granted, I don't think it is as good musically as their last effort, but I've alway been a lyrics first listener. Lest you think I'm a 17 year old girl, know that I'm 32 and in all sincerity I think of Mercer as our generations Brian Wilson. Before you soil yourself, remember it's just pop music, but it's freaking beautiful. when i think of Wilson writing, in an amazing pop song like Don't Worry Baby, words like "she makes me come alive, she makes me want to drive" I chuckle because it sounds a little silly, but when Wilson wrote it, it was pretty damn cool. now look at some of the couplets, the word play, the sheer vocab of Mercers writing. He's gifted! Hanson was a record execs sick creation, this is talent.

hey josh, thanks for joining into the fray. after re-reading some of the things that get written on here - i'd have to agree. it is probably full of 'hipsters' or as you so street-savvily put it 'too cool for school'ers. as a caution, though, i wouldn't put too much faith in Sub-Pop records, long intermingled with the ultra-corporate money-monger David Geffen - a man so obsessed with making money that his associates basically told the Canadian band 'Sloan', after recording their first major label release 'Twice Removed' to re-record the whole album and make it sound 'more like Nirvana'.

as for the Shins, and your comparison of their music and lyricism to the likes of Brian Wilson, I can see a connection and would like to thank you for bringing that to my attention. i'll have to give it a re-listen.

cheers josh!

p.s. Hanson, though corporately created, are actually all excellent musicians and have continued to make new music despite bad press.

I have to interject here:

There is nothing I hate more than someone saying that "so and so is this generation's so and so." That's a whole bucketful of unneeded hyperbole. You can't compare the two, you shouldn't compare the two, and I'm ashamed that you did compare the two.

Also, Sub Pop does have a LOT of money in their coffers to push an album down people's throats. Not only are they still getting a fair chunk of the money of the sale of "Nevermind" but they also sold a LOT of the Shins first two records, the Postal Service album, and many many more Iron & Wine records.

Finally, about my CD collection, show me yours and I'll show you mine.

C'mon now, the first Shins album didn't do much of anything until the secondalbum started getting some love by Pitchfork and other indie writers/blogs. I didn't say Subpop was dirt poor, but they can't exactly saturate the airwaves with their artists. there has to be some demand. the real problem with this album isn't that it's not good, it's that it didn't live up to the hype that preceded it. When an album gets anticipated for as long as this was, it becomes very hard measure up to what we the listeners have in our heads. This isn't an exact science, but think f some of the follow up albums to some really great ones. they can't measure up.

I'm interested in why comparisons such as Mercer to Wilson are hyperbole and shameful. I think it's an easy comparison and don't be surprised if Mercer grows a beard, dives off the deep end into drugs and puts on 50 pounds.

To continue the discussion:

Actually, the Shins' first album didn't really start getting any attention by the world at large until that schmuck Zach Braff made his movie and made Natalie Portman force one of his songs on him and the rest of the world. Then their sales went through the roof.

The point of my commenting on the hype was not to say that I was let down by the band. I don't listen to the hype of ANYBODY for nothing. If I did, my CD collection would be clogged with Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mayer records. I was just making mention of the fact that every other review I read of this record sounded like the Shins let the world down. From where I sit, they have let me down from track one of 'Oh Inverted World.'

And I think you give Sub Pop too much credit. Yes, they are an indie label, and I don't doubt that the "demand" is there for their product, BUT they are just as cutthroat with their marketing and promotion of albums because they can afford it. Other, smaller labels would probably do the same if they ended up being the first people to sign a group like Nirvana or Soundgarden.

Finally, as I said in the previous comment, I HATE when people make comparisons like Mercer being the next Brian Wilson. I think its just plain lazy. It's like awful journalism that says that "This band + this band = this band." It doesn't mean anything unless you can break it down more. If you want to do that, please do, but until I hear Mercer writing anything close to a teenage symphony to God, I will continue to think the comparison isn't a good one.

I've gotta touch this stupid Zach Braff issue, just once. Zach's rather average movie came out almost a year after "Chutes Too Narrow". Said album was hailed as a wonderful pop gem immediately. It was Braff who glommed on to the Shins. PLEASE! stop blaming their success on that damn movie. Enough.

regarding Brian Wilson, I think I need to define my comparison, because it certainly wasn't with SMiLE or any post Pet Sounds Beach Boys material. After reading your post, Bob, I went and listened to SMiLE again. Aside from remaking Heroes and Villains and Good Viberations, I still think it's awful. How can I or anyone relate to the rest of that stuff. the Beach Boy I love are the songs with which I can relate in some way. The fun and playfulness, the wonderful love songs, all bound in lovely harmonies and classic pop melodies. Don't Worry Baby, Wouldn't It Be Nice, Surfer Girl, Do It Again, Help Me Rhonda, I Get Around, Surfin' Safari. The combo of the above elements found in the early 60's material captivated me. I was a slave to my mothers record collection. I fell in love with pop music when I learned to use her record player.

Soooo, my comparison is with that Brian Wilson and how it made me feel. Finding the Shins in my late 20's, I wasn't expecting anything that fresh and honest. Perhaps more of the hopeless than hopeful romantic, but the sweet sound and word play of Young Pilgrims, Gone For Good, Kissing the Lippless, not to mention then going on to discover the first album and gems like Girl inform Me, New Slang, and the amazing coming of age brilliance of Know Your Onion. With the most recent effort I am currently reveling in Turn On Me, Girl Sailor, and what is bound to be the next single, Australia.

this post is already too long, so to close I'll say that maybe it's predicated on a feeling, but finding the Shins for me was like growing young and finding pop music again. it had been a while since I felt that way, and I follow music to a fault, so it wasn't for lack of looking. at any rate, you don't have to love them, "Your not obliged to swallow anything you despise." This was my sappy effort to convince you.

Josh,

Sure, "Chutes Too Narrow" had some buzz before "Garden State". "Oh Inverted World" was a critical darling before that. But the money and notoriety, both for the band and for the label, came when The Shins were featured on the "Garden State" soundtrack. They may have been a good band before that, with a devout following and critical acclaim, but that doesn't sell albums. The link between "Garden State" and The Shins is intrinsic, and you can't shake that.

It's great The Shins mean so much to you, but most would agree that calling them the second coming of the Beach Boys is a bit hyperbolic...like saying Oasis was the next Beatles. If you want a great album that hits a little closer to Pet Sounds, try The Pernice Brothers "World Won't End".

You see Josh? What you said about Brian Wilson and the Shins makes much more sense to me than making the blanket statement that James Mercer is the new Brian Wilson. That's all I really needed to hear.

Thanks for the back and forth on this stuff. It's a lot of fun to get feedback on stuff that I write.