Wincing The Night Away

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Wincing The Night Away

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Album Description:

It could be said that the Shins third album, Wincing the Night Away is the most heavily anticipated record of 2007. Post Garden State notoriety, the band has reached beyond their indie-darling status to something approaching mainstream recognition. Recorded over time in James Mercer's basement studio, Phil Ek's Seattle digs, and in Oregon City with veteran engineer Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2) - Wincing the Night Away is a whole new animal. It is the sound of a band growing up and out. Mercer's infectious, indelible melodic style is still at the core, and unfaltering. But anything can happen around it - and in this case, it does. Channeling a Morrissey vibe, "Sea Legs" pairs a hip-hop (yes, hip-hop) beat with lush melodic lines and searing guitars. Elsewhere the band toys with tweaked-out piano steeped in psychedelic strings ("Red Rabbit"); fractured synth samples ("Spilt Needles"); gauzy, arpeggiated keyboards cloaking thunderous anthems ("Sleeping Lessons"); and, taking cues from early Jesus and Mary Chain albums - sweeping, fuzztoned epics ("Phantom Limb"). Finally, "Turn on Me," "Girl Sailor" and "Australia" are the lilting, exhilarating, rollicking, rock-solid pop songs we've all come to covet from The Shins.

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Indie-rock's hardest-working slackers finally release their third album, on which they've made the clear transition from bedroom-pop to stadium-rock without losing everything that makes them great. Those soaring vocals that sound like the unholiest collision of the Cure and Simon and Garfunkel, the nimble pop hooks that are never overused, those lyrics that are as self-deprecating and razor sharp as they are playful--dude, it's all still here. Relax, you can still swoon. Musically, there are some new elements, from the ragged surf-rock that propels "Pam Berry" to the near hip-hop beats of "Sea Legs" and percolating electronica on "Sleeping Lessons" (which two thirds of the way through shows Band of Horses how to write a song). Wincing is neither the clever genre recombinant exercise of their second album nor is it the perfect little self-contained universe of their debut. This is not the Shins' best album; it's their growing pains third record. James Mercer has learned how to shout his words so the folks in the back row can hear; a slightly harder edge and more confidence is on display. But it doesn't gel fully. Mercer remains one of the most talented songwriters working in pop today, and what this album proves is that the group deserves to move beyond the little Zach-Braff-movie-watching, This-American-Life-listening, Frappuccino-sipping demo-ghetto they've found themselves in. Wincing confidently bristles with stupendous and smart rock music that deserves to be enjoyed by your kid brother and your folks as much as your dorm-mates. --Mike McGonigal

The Shins Get Their "Sea Legs"

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Customer Reviews:

Rating:
Date: 2008-06-19
WARNING
If you're unfamiliar with The Shins, or if you favor songs loaded with repetitive, predictable lyrics, then you might listen to this album once and walk away unsatisfied. However, dare to listen to it twice and you'll be hooked.

These guys may appear regular and unassuming, but they'll blindside the unsuspecting with haunting guitar rifts, offbeat drums, and playful lyrics that roll out in a refreshingly unfamiliar pattern - terrific fuel for the creative mind.

Rating:
Date: 2008-05-22
Good album + poor mastering = short life.
This is a pretty good album. Other reviewers have commented sufficiently about the songs and music.

It has one outstanding problem that many albums have these days. Someone wanted the CD to be loud. The drums sound awful. Distortion and clipping all over the place. Track 4 has guitar strums that are as loud as the drums, causing the drums to essentially disappear while the guitar is strummed! If it weren't for the fairly prolonged quite parts that The Shins tend to use, the album would be utterly unlistenable. As it is, I can't really bring myself to come back for repeat listens.

Another victim of the loudness war I'm afraid.

Rating:
Date: 2008-04-05
You won't be sorry
Get this album now! I don't listen to anything else remotely resembling the Shins, but I LOVE this CD! The songs stay in your brain and come back weeks after you've shelved the thing. And in a good way. I wanted a different Shins CD last year and my wife picked this one up instead. Definitely my favorite!

Rating:
Date: 2008-03-19
Pale Ale with Orange and Cinnamon.
The best of the music in this CD is perhaps the very best new music I've heard in several years. Even the less accessible tracks are somewhat odd but still vaguely familiar - a bit like going to the neighborhood bar for your customary pint of pale ale and finding it seasoned with orange and cinnamon.

Hey! It's all good. Drink up!

I hear bits of influence from the Replacements, from several unnamed avante garde poets, and even from the Beach Boys. And deep within is something completely original and silken-smooth.

All of it is truly fresh, unique and thought-provoking. As I write this, I've had the album for three months and listened to it at least 15 times and am still finding savory tidbits among the somewhat dense lyrics. Even better, I am intrigued enough that I want to still sift through those lyrics after repeated efforts.

Rating:
Date: 2008-03-08
An absolute pleasure to listen to
The Shins never fail to amaze me, every album has it's own special sound. Wincing the Night Away in particular shows a band whose melodic maturity has
easily jumped far beyond most popular acts today, yet they still remain in a perfect state of obscurity. James Mercer's lyrics, and voice along with the almost psychedelic/space rock sound are in perfect sync through out the album.
Favorite tracks: Black Wave, Sea Legs, Sleeping Lessons

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