The Shins' New Album is Good, but Overproduced

This album represents a change for The Shins. Their earlier releases were lower budget, more lyric-driven than instrumental, and in general I think more heartfelt and original. One of my favorite things about The Shins is their almost uncanny ability to relax the listener. I know of few ways to recover from a hard day faster than putting on "Chutes Too Narrow" and getting lost in the music. "Wincing," however, makes a few noted departures from this quality of The Shins earlier work, especially with tracks 2 and 3, which seem more heavily influenced by Modest Mouse-style indie rock than anything The Shins had previously released. In general, I think The Shins would have faired a little better if they'd spent more time writing the songs and a little less time creating interesting atmospheric effects and synthesizer tracks for the background.

The tunes on this CD are overall not as catchy as those on earlier Shins albums. If I listen to "Chutes Too Narrow" I usually end up with "Kissing the Lipless" or "Fighting in a Sack" stuck in my head for days, whereas I've listened to "Wincing" several times, and seldom leave humming the tunes.

The first track on the album, "Sleeping Lessons," is a wonderful tune. Its simple, minimalist instrumentation immediately grabs the listener and makes the song stick out. Then James Mercer begins to get angry. This is something that seldom happens, but that I wish would happen more. Lines like "you're not obliged to swallow anything you despise," have a great defiant ring to them, and are very memorable. The song is both rocking and relaxing - a difficult juxtaposition which is masterfully done.

"Australia," the album's second track, is more influenced by indie rock than most of The Shins' work. It begins with spoken words in a strange accent, and even contains a little shouting. Also, the way the "la la la" is harmonized with the instruments strongly reminded me of something Modest Mouse might do. It's certainly not a bad song, but it does represent a significant departure from The Shins have put out in the past.

The third track is even more heavily indie-influenced than "Australia." The guitar work is rapid and dissonant, almost jarring. Further, the vocal melodies, which are floating and airy, contrast sharply with the instrumentation. This track is a far cry from the masterpieces of relaxation that I'm accustomed to hearing from The Shins. I'm a little disappointed in this one - it's the only track whose removal would improve the album.

"Phantom Limb" is a well-done song. It's essentially a return to the style that The Shins are accustomed to. The tempo and vocal melody, as well as the rhythms of the lyrics, are almost identical to those of "Pink Bullets" off "Chutes Too Narrow." The song is quite good, but I think The Shins have released a number of songs in the past that sound a lot like it.

"Sea Legs" has an interesting beat to it, with a heavy hip-hop influence and lots of stereo panning, it definitely perks the listener up, and the flute in the background is a very nice touch. The lyrics and the melody are original and compelling. This is a great song, and it feels like The Shins without sounding too much like their earlier releases. I like it a lot.

"Red Rabbit" starts out sounding like a music box. It has a unique sound, and a fairly catchy rhythm and tune, but some people might find the instrumentation a little bit annoying. On this track in particular, Mercer has outdone himself with the incredibly well-sung vocals and beautiful melodies. The addition of the haunting background vocals makes this song almost perfect.

In contrast with "Red Rabbit," track seven on the album, "Turn On Me," has a fairly standard rock and roll instrument line-up: mostly drums, bass, and guitar. Once again, The Shins have masterfully pulled off the combination of relaxation and rock 'n' roll in the same song. Also the lyrics are absolutely brilliant. My favorite line is: "Adults will learn to play the most ridiculous, repulsive games."

I love the guitar part in the album's next tract, "Black Wave." It's soft, chill, and almost haunting, very much like the better Iron & Wine songs. Unfortunately, the song is riddled with numerous and often bizarre synthesizer noises, some of which frankly don't fit very well. Some of the lyrics are a little cliché, especially the first line of the song, "this goose is cooked, these tongues are tied." I think The Shins could have done something more creative than recycle old sayings. This song could have been wonderful if they'd spent more time improving the lyrics and less time picking out strange noises for background effects.

"Split Needles," the ninth track, has a wonderfully danceable beat to it. It's not fast, but it's very lively, and has me tapping my foot even as I listen to it now. The Shins have also managed to create a fairly unique sound using essentially standard guitar, drum, and bass sounds. The string (or string-like synth) fills in the middle of the song actually add a lot, unlike some of the other non-band-member sounds The Shins used on this album.

"Girl Sailor" is an excellent addition to this album. The lyrics are simply beautiful, honest, and heartfelt, with lines like "sailor don't sink this time." If you're an avid Shins fan, you should buy the album if only for this song and the next.

Track 11 "A Comet Appears," is probably my favorite Shins song, which puts it in the running for my favorite song. It's sad without being emo. Lines like "never worked so long and hard to cement a failure," and "the lonely are such delicate things, the wind from a wasp could blow them into the sea," are incredibly creative, and convey the mood of the song well without being over dramatic. If you can only buy one Shins song, this should be it.