Premature Evaluation: The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Oh, leaking interweb. Thanks for dripping the new Shins record! Before listening, we feared that the band either would turn in a complete retread of their awesome to-date output, or offer up a total snoozer. (Anyone who's been to a Shins show knows what we're talking about.) Instead, the album is another step in the crystallization of The Shins' studio sound (via ever-enhanced production) with some minor departures and some great tunes, all of it enough to earn from us a resounding "very good!"
The first Wincing tracks are among its finest; "Sleeping Lessons" moves forward on the strength of Mercer's melody and some spacey textures, but the crashing dance-beat guits at 2:25 (ala the outro to Arcade Fire's "Une Annee Sans Lumiere") have a full-and-forceful urgency that's very new for The Shins. Follow that up with "Australia" -- which has the band in full command of pop craft, toying with dynamics via shifting drum patterns and spiced with nostalgic '50s melodies -- and you'll think that those Sub Pop bastards have done it again.
And they sorta have.
The writing is there, though nothing's mind blowing. As for growth, the record is very safe in ways, and yet possessed of risks that are somewhat miscalculated. "Sea Legs" is a welcome stylistic departure, with its head-rocking groove, its strings, and its surprisingly Smiths-mining melodies. But the track resolves to join The Decemberists in Pink Floyd salutation, and that look isn't as flattering on The Shins -- although maybe it'll make 'em more attractive onstage.
Of course, lots of this record is in Mercer's wordplay, and we'll need a few more spins to really dig in there. The good news is, the music itself merits repeat spins, entirely independent of our lyrical curiosity. As for song predecessors? That's a fun game! Well, "Red Rabbits" is this album's "Young Pilgrims," and the record closer "A Comet Appears" is its bid for a new "New Slang." Not destiny altering, but it'll probably make you want a latte. And the album's best song? Stereogum's crushing on "Split Needles."
For the web-savvy downloaders out there, we welcome you to rate the album on a scale of 1 to Change Your Life. But no, we're not gonna leak it. If you want it badly enough, it will present itself to you.
Posted at 5:40 PM in Premature Evaluation
Tags: The Shins
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My favorite track after a few listens is "Sea Legs". I really like the album so far
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def a solid effort, but falls just short of the other 2 for me. can certainly appreciate the slight change/experimenting in sound though. can't totally pigeonhole them as your typical jangly indie pop band w/ this one.
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After one listen, I give it around a 6-7. Calling it "safe" is pretty acurate. There were only a handful of tracks that really stood out to me, and even those weren't that exciting. It's a very mellow album, so maybe you have to be in the right mindset to appreciate it. Pam berry is a standout, aside from its short length it captures that dreamy feeling of oh inverted. Hopefully the album is a grower... I just wish their were more surprises or energy in the album. To go from "those bold city girls" frantic and raw 60's pop to what I can only describe as monet-pop is somewhat disheartening. To grassy fields...
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dead.
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loved it. best yet.
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i would have liked them to keep going in the direction they seemed to have been on the first half of sleeping lessons, but halfway through the song (and then for the rest of the album) they go into comfortable shins mode and ride it out.
we seriously waited 3 years for this?
6.
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how did u get this album, i can't find it anywhere! help me
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LEAKING RECORDS IS UNCOOL
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A couple listens through, and it's about a 7 for me. There are some great songs on here, but the record as a whole doesn't strike me like Chutes did.
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Is "Pam Berry" about the cofounder of chickfactor (also of the awesome band gloworm)?
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Let's not pretend the first two albums didn't have filler. I've listened to this a couple of times now, and it seems very solid and well-written. I'll probably give it an 8/10.
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Meh... Not spectacular, but not in any way bad. "A Comet Appears" is the best of the bunch.
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how are you guys judging this record on the crappy sound quality of the leak. Seriously wait to make your judgements when a better quality version leaks.
Seacrest out.
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the bitrate desn't change the songs being performed, you OiNK dork.
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"sound quality of the leak."
It's a 128 kbps rip - it's not like you cant hear the melody or the words.
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can someone send me a link or an oink invite via email asap? my email is sea251@nyu.edu
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Shawn, it isnt on oink because the bitrate is too low, so the invite wont do you any good in regards to the shins album
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If you are truly a SOUL SEEKing this album, then you shall find it.
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haha oh fred oh funny you.
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Indeedie doo. dart533@gmail.com, k thx. <3
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can anyone else listen to a comet appears on the prefix website b/c i can't! How can i listen?
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I'm lovin the water drop music of Red Rabbits....
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A leaked record - especially one that drops this early - may not be fully mastered. A pre-mastered version could leak to a lossless format and it still might not sound as good as a 128kbps MP3 of the final cut. Bit rate is only determined by the conversion process. You could take a bunch of 64kbps MP3s and re-encode them to 320kbps average VBR and they'll still sound like crap.
I guess my point is that you shoud treat any leak as an unfinished product regardless of the bit rate.
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i can't get into it. it's too different for me. they should've stuck with what they know best. but what do i know? zach braff's opinion is the only one that matters.
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lol @ you losers complaining about audio quality of an album by a lo-fi indie band
I pretty much agree with the post; it's more of the same, and that I'm grateful for. I'm glad they stayed their ground and didn't dilute their sound too much, unlike other "indie" bands that got popular on The OC and ended up coming out with crappy albums that sound like boring adult-alternative than anything else.
...If you can guess who I'm talking about, props to you.
Anyway, I'm liking it a lot; Sea Legs is every bit the track that The Perfect Crime should've been.
Although I'm sorta confused as to why this album was pushed back from November to a January release.
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Don't know who you mean
Can't quite
Figure it out from those obtuse
Comments you made.
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Hook a brother up, please?
rochinho@aol.com
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I really really like it. Worth waiting for.
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Dan, "The Man" made us take the track down, almost immediately. Still, as you've gathered by now I'm sure, it's out there to be found.
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Listen guys....I need some serious serious help.
krjohn01@gmail.com
Pretty please.
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I'm on slsk, cant's find anything--help
terrible.01@gmail.com ---thanks
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i think it's a rad effort. i like. i wasn't very fond of chutes too narrow, but this combines the best of that and my favorite, inverted world. australia, sea legs, and turn on me are immediately awesome.
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go give the ateaseweb message board a glance.
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to the folks here who can't get their hands on it, slsk is what came through me, really. do a normal search for the album, then also hit up the terrible indie chat room, right click and search for files in that room. you'll find SOMETHING, but you may end up on a queue. sorry in advance if i'm being captain obvious, but i guess i lucked out last night when trying to obtain it. i had to download pieces of the album from like 3 different users, but eventually got the whole thing.
kbye
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*cough* torrentspy *cough*
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search for "wincing" on slsk. works better than any other keywords
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Maybe the suggestion to look at the ateaseweb.com message board is worth a try *wink*
Not sure what to think yet. I'm immediately drawn to the songs that are most like their old stuff, like Turn on Me. It might be too different for me too.
I need time!
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I'm waiting for the record to come out and I'm buying it. If y'all love the Shins so damned much, you should wait for it. Give them that much, you skanky-ass ingrates. Sheesh.
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I actually didn't like the first two that much at all. A few decent tracks, here and there, but I couldn't ever get through either album in one sitting.
This one though, I quite like.
Congrats to them.
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Those ingrates should go back to Albuquerque and play a goddamn show for once. It's been too long.
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Great album indeed now you FUCK TARDS BETTER GO BUY IT WHEN IT COMES OUT if you like it.
Jus saying...
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I figure this is as good of time as any to pander for an oink invite.
Austin.Dickson@gmail
love and thanks
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It's pretty good, in my opinion. It will take a few spins to make a final judgement. We'll see if the record has been mastered. My thought is that it has, considering the album probably leaked from one of the promo copies Sub Pop sent to RS and other publications.
But yeah, if you DL'd the album, you should still buy it. These guys aren't loaded.
Erler out
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oh sarah, go to your room and play with your toys and costumes. forget about the baby.
what i'm tryna say is
THIS RECORD ISN'T EXACTLY "LOW" BY ME, IS IT?
I've had a good listen, as a shins fan, and quite frankly there;s been 10 records in the last 6 months , of similar genre, that are wa y more interesting and creative than this one.
and a message to all folk begging to dl it for free but don't know where to find it: TRY A RECORD STORE YOU LUDDITES, HAVE A GO ON MY TIME MACHINE I'VE NAMED "WAITING"
what goes clip clop clip clop clip clop BLAM?
an amish revenge drive-by.
cheerio.
David Bowie.
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ateaseweb is a saviour. I had never gone to the bottom half of the mb index. Who knew it was so chock full o' goodies.
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portland can have them
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Oink invite please
andrewmcclure@yahoo.com
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oink invite would be the greatest. please.
and Red Rabbits / Split Needles are by far the best songs.
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*cough* albumbase.com *cough*
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*cough* albumbase.com *cough* it's sounding good so far from the quick spin I gave it this morning
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I hope they asked the 5, 6, 7, 8's nicely if they could use the "vonage" song for "Sleeping Lessons".
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I can't get into this album at all. It bores me to death. None of the songs are as good as what's on Chutes Too Narrow. I am wondering, instead of just rating it, or throwing out ridiculously stupid insults, can someone say a few things about what they like about it?
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Oh yeah, I'm wondering if "Sea Legs" is a reference to Beck's Sea Change because it definitely rips off that album's sound (the string arrangement, the minimalist drum machine-style beats, muted acoustic guitar)
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"Sleeping Lessons" is where it's been at for me since the first listen. And "Australia." And "Split Needles" and "Black Wave."
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Good stuff, I kinda liked it, not a big fan of the shins to begin with, but it's growing on me..
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forgot the email if you wanna throw an oink invite my way
terpentin@hotmail.com
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It's not on oink. It's not a high enough quality leak.
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seeing as folks are being charitable with pig-sound invites...
gpharaoh@gmail.com
... i can grovel with the best.
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I for one am glad that Girl Sailor made it onto the album... was worried when they said it would be a total departure. Since it sounded quite the same as their other stuff when they played it on tour... it rocks.
Overall, for a shins record I give it about a 8.5. That's my opinion.
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After a few cursory listens I'm coming out and saying, “ I love it.” It's not nearly as immediate as Chutes Too Narrow--which should not be confused with not being as good. More so than not, it's a much slower, meditative and quite beautifully dense album. You can easily tell they got a big budget boost for this one and James and Co. put it to good use.
Many have said this is more of the same but I couldn’t disagree more. If anything it sounds similar to Oh, Inverted World and continues to display his now famous longing, abstract poetry, but the songwriting is much more mature, complex, and achieved. Some of the songs display an entrancingly hard groove--which is a welcomed departure from their strictly “art indie” genre treading--, while others display an art-country vibe that juxtaposes their pyschedelic sound quite well. And with each genre they reach into they come out with their instruments speaking the tongues of their newly acquired slang.
But despite the growth and exploration, The Shins are still The Shins, just a new, braver, more interesting Shins. All of the poppy and summery atmospheres we have come to love are present, but with Wincing The Night Away they have evolved from being a cutesy, albeit great, indie band to just a great, solid band. My only question is why is it coming out in two and a half months when they’re sending out advance copies now? Are they waiting for “Grammy season”?
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After a few cursory listens I'm coming out and saying, “ I love it.” It's not nearly as immediate as Chutes Too Narrow--which should not be confused with not being as good. More so than not, it's a much slower, meditative and quite beautifully dense album. You can easily tell they got a big budget boost for this one and James and Co. put it to good use.
Many have said this is more of the same but I couldn’t disagree more. If anything it sounds similar to Oh, Inverted World and continues to display his now famous longing, abstract poetry, but the songwriting is much more mature, complex, and achieved. Some of the songs display an entrancingly hard groove--which is a welcomed departure from their strictly “art indie” genre treading--, while others display an art-country vibe that juxtaposes their psychedelic sound quite well. And with each genre they reach into they come out with their instruments speaking the tongues of their newly acquired slang.
But despite the growth and exploration, The Shins are still The Shins, just a new, braver, more interesting Shins. All of the poppy and summery atmospheres we have come to love are present, but with Wincing The Night Away they have evolved from being a cutesy, albeit great, indie band to just a great, solid band. My only question is why is it coming out in two and a half months when they’re sending out advance copies now? Are they waiting for “Grammy season”?
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black wave is great
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"And with each genre they reach into they come out with their instruments speaking the tongues of their newly acquired slang."
OOOF! DOUCHECHILLS!
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Wow, someone aspires to be a pitchfork reviewer.
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I can just see 'a comet appears' as the sound track to a slow, defining moment in a Braffian film.
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i want an oink invite even without the shins album, been looking for one for a while now.
terpentin@hotmail.com
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Stereogum,
Thank you for not mentioning Zach Braff, Garden State, or Natalie Portman in the same paragraph as The Shins. If I see one more pseudo joke connecting these two (see today's review of Phantom Limb in Pitchfork), my head will explode.
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Album should be titled Sleeping Lessons. It's not horrible, but definitely a let down after 1) First two albums and 2) Three years waiting. It's kinda like 70's/80's soft rock, or one long slow-paced Shins song. I'm not going to stop loving the Shins anytime soon, but maybe they're not the pop geniuses we thought. Someone above said there have been 5-6 more interesting albums in this genre the last couple years, and that really struck a chord with me.
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What would be wrong with it being exactly the same as the last two? I don't get it. Those are amazing records. No one ever said to the Boss or Bob Dylan or Tom Waits, "Stop doing what you're doing because it's great!" This gotta change attitude is so pervasive now in the indie world and would have seriously hindered artists like Low, Jesus and Mary Chain, and more had it been around when they got started. Me, I'll take another killer Shins record, even if it's similar.
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Lucas I strongly agree. There's a huge difference between the natural evolution of change in a band and forced directional change in order to fulfill the expectations of fans. I've always been annoyed when people defend a bad album by saying that it's better than if they had a similar sound as their previous album. An example of the natural evolution is the Liars, a victim of the trend would be the stills(switching singers/genres...seems to go a bit far).
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i predict a p-fork rating in the high sixes.
personally, though, i would give it an eight.
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i totally love it... download if u can!!!
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i totally love it... download if u can!!!
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i like girl sailor
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i like girl sailor.
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australia is by far one of the best songs they have ever written, in my opinion.
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Another 10 - Nobody can touch them !!!
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When I was directed the link to get this album from the interweb I was dead excited as I love The Shins and had been looking forward to their new release for quite some time.
And...
On a first listen I was dead impressed. Truth be told I actually had in the wrong order. Alpabetcial if you must know and even on that systematic layout It flowed.
The +'s of the album is its very well written and prefetctly played. The songs shine with heart and passion, craft and care. James Mercer 's vocals shine and the melodies are as sweet and memorable as ever.
The -'s of the album is the production is really heavy and it doesn't need some of the keyboard touches. These touches are borderline noisey and distracting.
As comparing it to the first 2 releaeeses I can say that its a basicailly an amalgam of the 2 albums that prodceded it. It has the melodic class of Chutes Too Narrow with Oh Inverted World's production merits.
This is a great album that has some true gems. I'm on my 9th listen since I downloaded it and boy can I tell you that as for enjoyment value it hasn't gone stale.
My favoutite tracks include Australia, Phantom Limb, Sea Legs , Black Wave, Gril Sailor and A Comet Appears.
I'll definetly be Wincing The Night Away.
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Once you fall into this rabbit hole of an album, it will be the most addicting puzzle you've had this year.
The album literally swims through dark, unsettling waters. It suggests the conveyor belt of life, rolling forward inevitably and uncontrollably. The intro track, sleeping lessons lets us fall asleep into the wonderland, starting with Australia, grimness painted over with pop.
The red pill is swallowed after 'jumping out the window' of australia, falling down the rabbit hole through pam berry. The inside is cavernous, some tunnels leading to songs of false sounding cheer with lyrics revealing the true motives. Red Rabbits brings us to a bubbling dripping bog at the center (of the album and earth), complete with drug allusions ("Into the crucible to be rendered an emulsion...the boils of swollen sunburnt eyes.")
Mercer tells us we cannot cast our eyes on the shore yet, and the album progresses through the apparent barren and black landscape of black waves and spilt needles.
We fall back out of the hole during 'girl sailor', sailing out of the tunnels more alone than we came in.
"A comet appears" brings us grey dawn, birds chirping, but with a sinking feeling that just because you've awoken, does not mean the nightmares will stop.
Give this album as many listens as needed until the layers of meanings present themselves, its hauntingly beautiful.
10. Life Changing.
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does anyone know where to get photos of the shins from download festival in sf? i'm in one and i've GOT to find it!
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"Turn me on" is one of the best pop-songs ever written!
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Kyle M, how and where exactly does the album "swim through dark, unsettling waters," "suggest the conveyor belt of life" or "let us fall asleep in the Wonderland"? I disagree very strongly with your review, and your suggestion that we have to wait for these supposed "meanings to present themselves." I have a strong hunch that you haven't listened to much more than this record lately, and you haven't read much more than Alice in Wonderland lately. But don't assume that the rest of us are in that position.
Sorry to disagree so strongly, but I think we might benefit from talking about the album in less than wholly subjective terms.
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Well, now. Been spinning this in the car, where its short length almost exactly fills my commute (a bit less than 40 minutes). This is nice, Shins-type music. It isn't anywhere near as good as either of the first two, because it's largely devoid of immediately catchy pop hooks. Aside from "Sea Legs" and "Split Needles" it feels like outtakes (although really good outtakes) from the first two. I REALLY wanted this to be FUCKING FANTASTIC, as most of you probably did. It's been a long time coming, and I must admit, as several others here have, that it doesn't live up to my expectations or hopes. Then again, considering how great the first two were, perhaps our expectations are impossibly high. How many songwriters or bands have more than two GENUINELY "5 STAR" albums in them? I would need more than two hands, but probably not both my feet, if you dig me. If "Oh! Inverted World" got 4 and 1/2 stars and "Chutes Too Narrow" got the full 5, this one would end up with 3 and 3/4. It's very nice. It just isn't up to their extremely high standards or my expectations.
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I completely disagree...I think WTNA ranks with the first two records. It's no mis-step, or poor cousin to those uncontested masterpieces. It hold's it's own to them in every measure.
If O,IW! was "Pet Sounds", and CTN was "Smile", then WTNA is like an ELO record; all sunny boy-band harmonies buried in a wall of studio trickery. And what trickery it is. James Mercer and Co., always studio hounds, have nontheless sharpened thier focus on production this time around, and the results are stunning.
This record is very different from the last two Shins records. But I don't see the previous records as too similar to each other, like many here do. CTN is a much darker, sombre affair than it's predecesor, the inevitable flip side of the manic happiness of the debut.
This new LP completes the cycle, it sees the band finding strengh in new directions, reassesing themselves, pushing themselves. This record is a very risky move by a band poised for a major breakthrough. Almost a self concious effort to distance themselves from the MTV2 generation. It's an inward, autumnal record. Yes, the glourious innocent pop of the debut is long gone, but then, so is the new century that birthed all this great new music anyway.
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Yeeeahh... well...
It's a very good record. But come on, their second is by far the best. It has the most interesting musical arrangements, styles, and lyrics. Oh, Inverted World is the best album as a WHOLE and possibly has the best Shins song of their career, but no other songs stand out by themselves like they do on CTN. (Some may argue for "Caring Is Creepy" etc, but it's just my opinion.)
I have a special place in my heart for OIW. But if I were to graph it out without bias, it would look like this:
CTN <<< WTNA < OIW
Very close because all of them are great albums. I put all the songs on my iPod, making 39 Shins songs total and I'm surprised that I actually enjoy nearly EVERY song. Regarding the album, it just lacks the lyrical cohesiveness found in their last albums. I mean, honestly, listen to "Red Rabbits" and "Black Wave" two songs that ARE very good, but I have no idea what the hell they are about. However, every song is still worth listening to, and maybe one day a Rosetta Stone will arrive that can translate those two songs as "Saint Simon" was; tell us what this new slang means. Pretty original joke, huh?