Originating from Albuquerque, New Mexico, the Shins are one of those rare bands difficult to classify, as their music shifts gracefully between soft rock, pop, country and folk.
If forced to compare their sound to another band, then I guess ‘Waterloo Sunset’ era Kinks is an acceptable reference point, teeming with the same kind of intelligent songwriting and infectious pop hooks that stir the soul. But even that’s a stretch.
Needless to say, the band’s debut album Oh, Inverted World was released to immediate critical acclaim in 2001. Their follow up, 2003’s Chutes Too Narrow, received an equally warm reception, making them the band of choice for the indie connoisseur.
But it was the inclusion of their extraordinary tune ‘New Slang’ in Zach Braff’s film Garden State – in which Natalie Portman’s adorable character slaps a pair of headphones on Braff’s and gushes the Shins “will change your life” – that took things to a whole new level, introducing them to an international audience. And thus things have never been quite the same for the humble four piece.
‘Phantom Limb’ is the first single to taken from their eagerly anticipated album Wincing the Night Way, which is set for release early next year through Sub Pop.
They say:
Pitchfork: “The single is noticeably heavier than usual for the Shins, as if this is their way of announcing that more quote mature material is en route.”
Standard Lipsum: “The spontaneity that is found on previous releases is lost here.”
We say:
Apart from some rather mouth watering stabs of tremolo and tasteful distortion, there is very little musical progression on show here.
Opening with a buzz saw riff remarkably similar to the one utilised in Good Charlotte’s ‘Keep Your Hands Off My Girl’, the track then eases itself into Chutes Too Narrow’s mix of subtle acoustics, heightened jingly jangly guitar and tambourine – a revelation back then, but not so much now.
And once again the warm, pristine exterior cleverly conceals a chilly undercurrent of desperation and melancholy. In this case it’s a fictional account of young lesbian couple at odds with the small narrow-minded northwest town they reside in. A depressing state of affairs, if not for the soothing chorus of “ooh ah oohs” that somehow manages to melt the cold hostility away.
Portman was right. They will change your life. But probably not with the all too familiar sound of ‘Phantom Limb’.
Like this? Try these:
Modest Mouse – Ocean Breathes Salty
The Chills– House with 100 Rooms
RELEASED
Out now
LABEL
Sub Pop
POSTED...
Fri 17 Nov 2006 at 2:27pm
