Album Review: The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

[MEbenhoe]

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

The Shins are one of the few “indie” bands that you would have to have been living under a rock for the past 5 years to not hear of. With their post-Garden State fame and coming off of outstanding back to back albums with Oh, Inverted World and Chutes to Narrow, the release of Wincing the Night Away was highly anticipated by many.

One of the best qualities of any Shins album and still characteristic of Wincing the Night Away is their ability to make brilliant catchy pop music without resorting to the stereotypical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-chorus formula. However, with this album The Shins have taken a large step musically. You won’t find track after track of short cheery verse, but rather you’ll see a more emotionally and musically diverse version of the band. It may be an adjustment for those expecting the classic Shins, but it is an album that will grow on you fast.

Individually there is an abundance of standout tracks on this album. There is the single “Phantom Limb” which, while I may disagree, many are claiming to be one of the Shins best singles ever. We see a little darker version of The Shins in songs like “Split Needles” and “Girl Sailor”. There are more traditional Shins songs like “Sleeping Lessons” and “Australia” that are outstanding and will satisfy those who don’t appreciate the experimentation seen on the rest of the album. Finally, there is what would seem the obvious next single “Turn on Me”.

Its hard to think of an accurate way to describe The Shins to someone who has never heard them, since they don’t really fit the mold of any other pop or indie bands currently out there. If you’ve never heard The Shins, you will likely think this is a great pop album. If you are a long-time Shins fan, you will likely be very surprised, as I was, at the turn they have taken musically, but it grows on you and is close to being on par with their previous two releases, which is quite an accomplishment.

Rating: 9.0/10

Scale
1 – Please destroy all copies of this album so that I don’t have to ever go through listening to this again
2 – Lacks anything good to say about it, but at least it doesn’t put me in pain to hear it
3 – Shows some bright signs, but overall lacks enough good content
4 – A below average entry, lacks uniqueness and relistenability
5 – Average, entertaining at times, but overall nothing special
6 – Slightly Above Average, entertaining with decent relistenability
7 – Above Average, very entertaining
8 – Great Overall Album
9 – One of the Year’s best, Nearing all time Great Status
10 – An Absolutely Perfect Album in every way

p.s. Concert trip report to follow in about a week.

[El Diablo]

M,

I love these reviews, keep it up. When we get a general indie thread going we can link to all of these so they're all easily accessible.

I've only listened to a couple of tracks from this album so far, but really dig them.

[tdarko]

Meb,

This is my favorite Shins album to date. They were always never bad but never great for me, this album is outstanding imo. I have only listened to the album one time through, I will need to go through it more before I would be able to rate it or anything but based on my initial listen it was their best.

[The DaveR]

MEb, I think this might be their best album. I've listened to it every morning at work for the past week. It's hard to express how good a song Phantom Limb is. I also think that Girl Sailor sounds eerily like Men at Work.

[Go_Blue88]

album=awesome. i've been listening to it every night.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

you listen to the new Clap your Hands album yet?

I was pretty unimpressed.

[bozzer]

Thanks a lot for the review - i'll definitely check this album out. I've heard one or two Shins songs before, so have a rough idea of their sound, but will probably prefer their new direction.

[Claunchy]

I'm pretty much on the same page as td regarding the Shins. I've never really been a huge fan, though they were always listenable. But I absolutely love this new album.

[neuroman]

I've been enjoying this album, but I would probably give it a 7.5 or so on the MEbenhoe scale.

[Jack of Arcades]

I have no desire to listen to Shins albums, but I can find nothing wrong with them.

[Grifter]

[ QUOTE ]
you listen to the new Clap your Hands album yet?

I was pretty unimpressed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I know it's off topic, but yes, this was a major letdown. Considering thier first was one of my favorite albums of the past five years, and the new one kind of sucks. Track 3, "mama..." is pretty good though.

[MEbenhoe]

This def isn't the response I expected as most Shins fans I've talked to were actually a bit letdown by this album, so I expected to hear some of them chiming in. Personally, I love this album, but think the other two are a bit better. Oh, Inverted World ranks as my #2 album of the past 10 years though, just to show you how good I think the other albums are.

[nyc999]

[ QUOTE ]
This def isn't the response I expected as most Shins fans I've talked to were actually a bit letdown by this album, so I expected to hear some of them chiming in. Personally, I love this album, but think the other two are a bit better. Oh, Inverted World ranks as my #2 album of the past 10 years though, just to show you how good I think the other albums are.

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually didn't like it after the few first times listening to it, but wanted to give it a chance before posting. I've now listened to the album 7-8 times and it's definitely growing on me. BTW, my favorite album is Chutes Too Narrow.

[soko]

To Shins fans: Have you heard Nature Bears a Vacuum album?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

I like the album a lot, but I think the other 2 are better.

[thatpfunk]

i have been trying to listen to this album for the past two months and every single time i finish it the same word runs through my mind: underwhelmed.

i feel that this is a solid, enjoyable album but nothing special, at all. they break no new ground, don't adventure much (unless you count aping new wave stuff without bringing anything original to the table), and it's just... meh. very meh imho.

i've given this album many, many tries. any time i put the album on (as i just did while writing this) it is not because it is the best possible album for me to listen to but because i'm trying (again) to see what it is i'm missing. how many listens until i give up? i don't know but in the last week when ive felt in the mood for shins stuff i've automatically put this on and then asked myself "why the [censored] am i listening to this one?" and put on CTN or OIW.

if this cd was released by an unknown band i feel like it gets a 7, tops. it is just nothing special.

[soko]

[ QUOTE ]
i have been trying to listen to this album for the past two months and every single time i finish it the same word runs through my mind: underwhelmed.

i feel that this is a solid, enjoyable album but nothing special, at all. they break no new ground, don't adventure much (unless you count aping new wave stuff without bringing anything original to the table), and it's just... meh. very meh imho.

i've given this album many, many tries. any time i put the album on (as i just did while writing this) it is not because it is the best possible album for me to listen to but because i'm trying (again) to see what it is i'm missing. how many listens until i give up? i don't know but in the last week when ive felt in the mood for shins stuff i've automatically put this on and then asked myself "why the [censored] am i listening to this one?" and put on CTN or OIW.

if this cd was released by an unknown band i feel like it gets a 7, tops. it is just nothing special.

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't know what to say, maybe you just don't "get it". Oddly the most interesting part of the shins is that the lyrics are catchy and you want to sing along and at the same time you have no idea what the hell he's saying so you wind up making your own lyrics.

[thatpfunk]

"Don't know what to say, maybe you just don't "get it". Oddly the most interesting part of the shins is that the lyrics are catchy and you want to sing along and at the same time you have no idea what the hell he's saying so you wind up making your own lyrics."

wait, huh? shins lyrics are not exactly difficult to decipher (and im a lyric fiend that usually looks them up when im curious).

and i'm a fan of the band; i've seen them live and listen(ed) extensively to all their albums. i had pretty high hopes for this cd and am underwhelmed especially when compared to some of the music that their "indie" peers are producing.

or i dont get it. (this comes off way more defensive than i meant/feel, i just don't really understand your comments)

[kitaristi0]

Do you really think Turn on Me is the obvious next single? I agree it's up there but for some reason I would've thought it would be Australia. Maybe it's just that I absolutely love that song and wish it were the next single.

Btw I agree with just about everyone in this thread. I think the new album is great and maybe even their best. All three of their albums are so good that it's hard to say which is the best.

[tdarko]

This seems to be an obvious "love it or hate it" piece of entertainment so far.

[soko]

[ QUOTE ]
"Don't know what to say, maybe you just don't "get it". Oddly the most interesting part of the shins is that the lyrics are catchy and you want to sing along and at the same time you have no idea what the hell he's saying so you wind up making your own lyrics."

wait, huh? shins lyrics are not exactly difficult to decipher (and im a lyric fiend that usually looks them up when im curious).

and i'm a fan of the band; i've seen them live and listen(ed) extensively to all their albums. i had pretty high hopes for this cd and am underwhelmed especially when compared to some of the music that their "indie" peers are producing.

or i dont get it. (this comes off way more defensive than i meant/feel, i just don't really understand your comments)

[/ QUOTE ]

Getting a little off topic now but if you look up the lyrics for a song then no s*** it's gonna be easy to decipher them.

[The DaveR]

[ QUOTE ]
This def isn't the response I expected as most Shins fans I've talked to were actually a bit letdown by this album, so I expected to hear some of them chiming in. Personally, I love this album, but think the other two are a bit better. Oh, Inverted World ranks as my #2 album of the past 10 years though, just to show you how good I think the other albums are.

[/ QUOTE ]

MEb, A lot of people like the second CD best. They are not to be trusted.

[thatpfunk]

"Getting a little off topic now but if you look up the lyrics for a song then no s*** it's gonna be easy to decipher them. "

this is not the forum for this but jesus christ, learn to [censored] read.

[thatpfunk]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
This def isn't the response I expected as most Shins fans I've talked to were actually a bit letdown by this album, so I expected to hear some of them chiming in. Personally, I love this album, but think the other two are a bit better. Oh, Inverted World ranks as my #2 album of the past 10 years though, just to show you how good I think the other albums are.

[/ QUOTE ]

MEb, A lot of people like the second CD best. They are not to be trusted.

[/ QUOTE ]

i found this amusing: from cokemachinemachineglow.com's review...



--*-------------------------*----------------------------------------------*---------------*---------------*--
Moby.................... Linkin Park ..............................................WtNA ......... ....OIW............. CTN

[colgin]

Just wanted to belatedly say that I love this CD. Heavy Smiths influence (particularly in "Phantom Limb" but in other songs as well), which I really dig.

[TyFuji]

I was never too interested in the shins until this album, which is fantastic.

This seems to be a common opinion.