The Shins: Wincing The Night Away
By talias
| Published Sunday, 4 March, 2007
Album review
3 and a half/5
After gaining a lot of well-deserved attention, a lot of pressure was placed on The Shins' latest album to do just as well as the previous two - which of course are personal favourites of mine. Could they really do it all again a third time? The answer: yes and no.
There are some amazing stand-out tracks with all the catchy hooks and quirky lines
("This lass/some fifteen odd years/is widely known/to have spat/in her teacher's eye") that The Shins are known and loved for, but near the middle of the album it loses its momentum and becomes more about experimentation, compromising the indie-pop qualities that long-time fans are accustomed to. That being said, the album starts off strong with Sleeping Lessons, a beautifully dreamy track that wouldn't seem out of place on previous efforts, and the track Pam Berry, where the new direction works well with child-like lyrics sung in a lullaby over contrasting thick, heavy guitars. On the other hand, there are songs like Sea Legs where the different combination of instruments becomes clumsy and confusing. By the end the foursome manage to reel it back in with the wistful closing track A Comet Appears, showcasing the band's ability to craft beautifully sombre lyrics and music. Overall, the album is a strange mix but if you pick through the bad ones there are hidden gems - those really great tracks that are just too good to ignore.