The Shins – Wincing the Night Away

Much thanks to Drewl for carrying the weight this past month, I feel like I’ve been out to sea for most of that time and I’m finally getting my land legs back. Anyway, it’s been nearly two weeks since the Shins released their 3rd album, Wincing the Night Away, and that’s been enough time for the album to sink into the quicksand of my aural canal.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Shins first album, Oh, Inverted World, was one of those albums that blew me away when I first heard it. I wouldn’t, nay, couldn’t listen to anything else for quite some time, as nothing else seemed to measure up. Needless to say, the follow-up, Chutes Too Narrow, was much anticipated. And, while it didn’t veer to far from the successful formula of the debut, it also didn’t rise to the same heights. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable continuation of the journey and it, too, has graced my CD player more often than not.

And that brings us to present day, four years after the release of Chutes. Given the length of time between the two releases, you might be inclined to think that I have been feverishly waiting for Wincing The Night Away to arrive, but I wasn’t. Was my lack of enthusiasm a result of the Shins’ progression from indie rock darlings to the apple of everyone’s eye by way of the Garden State soundtrack? Perhaps. But I think I was starting to pessimistically believe that lightning does only strike once.

Not that Wincing isn’t a good album. It is. It’s just that Oh, Inverted World kind of felt like the beginning of Pulp Fiction. You know, when Tim Roth (Pumpkin) and Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny) are sitting in the coffee shop having a His Girl Friday kind of conversation? Then they stand up in the booth and shout:

Then Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” kicks in and you are left sitting in your seat thinking, “Whoa! What the fuck just happened?!? We’re in for one hell of a ride.” Well, Oh, Inverted World turned things on their head for me in the same way that Pulp Fiction did. The Shins and Tarantino changed the rules of the game and countless other bands and filmmakers have been trying to play by those rules ever since.

The only thing is that the Shins haven’t upped the ante at all. James Mercer and the gang have hit on a formula that works and they’ve stuck with it. While Oh, Inverted World was a monumental first chapter filled with captivating characters and crazy plot twists, Chutes Too Narrow and Wincing the Night Away feel like the means to an end, enjoyable rest stops along the way.

I’m looking forward to the day we arrive at the journey’s climax and the Shins change the rules again.

• Listen to Sleeping Lessons
• Listen to Phantom Limb
• Listen to Sea Legs

Buy Wincing the Night Away from PRMS.