When The Shins’ last record came out, you’d be hard pressed to find anyone outside of a “mom and pop” store that would’ve known what you were talking about past basic human anatomy when you mentioned their name. But that all changed with the release of that mediocre “it film,” “Garden State.”
Suddenly shoved from the side stage of obscurity into the iTunes of virtually every college student in America, the band became the hottest band no one had ever heard of in no time.
Newly thrust into the spotlight, The Shins had backbreaking pressure facing them to come out with an even greater album now that people outside of dive clubs in Seattle knew who they were.
Fortunately though, their new record Wincing The Night Away isn’t just another forgettable record capturing nothing more than a group choking upon their own unexpected stardom. In fact, James Mercer and the boys have created some of The Shins’ most intriguing material yet.
Thematically, the album doesn’t stray too far from previous work. However, it does offer some interesting perspective when concerning the ability to cope with everything from heartbreak to finding oneself totally lost in a callous, constantly changing world.
It’s obvious there’s much desperation and even quiet fear lying just below the surface. Even among the notes of the poppy and electrified jubilant hip-shaker “Australia,” nothing is really what it seems.
This seems to be a fact of life in this world The Shins have created. Wincing is a place of the unsure, the vulnerable and the strangely vague, where emotion waits to bite at the listener around every corner, and tragic reality seems to fool subjects into believing the deepest trench is just another reef.
It’s a landscape that appears as desolate as comprehensible. But even when Mercer is at the bottom of the bottom, he just takes another one on the chin with stride, because after all “the worst part is over, [he will] get back on that horse and ride.”
On a drastically different note, though, are the stripped down cuts like “Turn On Me,” which are so heartwarming and cute you’d have to be made of stone not to be the least bit moved. And with lines like “but you had to know that I was fond of you, fond of y-o-u,” how can you not feel for the guy?
There’s just something about Mercer’s simplistic approach to keeping himself relatable. Even when he’s spilling his guts, and letting you in on why he is lonely, he never takes himself too seriously. In fact, Wincing breaks respectable ground for the fact that themes can be straightforward, simplistic and tongue in cheek without having to sound forced or trite.
However, even after putting out a contender for best record of 2007 (early to call, but trust me on this one), The Shins aren’t beyond reproach.
On Wincing Mercer has crafted some truly special and touching tunes, but the record still suffers on closing tracks from its own lofty ambitions.
Songs like the album’s single “Phantom Limb” would taste so much sweeter if they just applied the classic adage that made Chutes Too Narrow such a gem: less is more.
While elements such as Wurlitzer and synth add new and interesting sonic layers to tracks like “Sea Legs,” eventually the subtle luster fades and much of the album’s electronics begin to sound more and more hackneyed.
Often burying its endearing yet simple core of folk-pop ‘n’ roll with unnecessary layers of electro-fuzz and production gloss, good ideas fight to breathe beneath overwrought pop-schizophrenia. Which when considering the context of Wincing isn’t the least bit surprising.
Overall though, while guilty of carrying an overly critical eye the album is actually a relief, especially when considering all of the different directions the band could have gone with their sound.
It would have been the easiest thing in the world for The Shins to just “sell out” and mold their sound to top 40 radio, but they didn’t. And Wincing is a testament to that very fact. Don’t be alarmed though if you put this on expecting a sequel to Chutes Too Narrow and you receive a sometimes hard to swallow, deeper record.
So while the album might present the most vulnerable side ever captured of The Shins, since having been faced with “big league” pressure, in reality there isn’t any wincing to be found here at all.
