For What It's Worth.

The Shins is a United States indie rock group comprising singer, songwriter and guitarist James Russell Mercer, keyboardist/guitarist/bassist Martin Crandall, bassist/guitarist Dave Hernandez, drummer Jesse Sandoval, and Eric Johnson of the Fruit Bats. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, alternative, alternative country, and folk. The Shins are based in Portland, Oregon.

Wincing the Night Away by The Shins was released in January of 2007. The Shins are one of many indie-pop groups that have caught my attention in recent years, though I've only listened to this album, their most recent. It's been on the playlist a lot lately. Because of that, I decided to scrutinize and offer up some of my thoughts on the album.



1. Sleeping Lessons
This might be the song I like the least on this album and perhaps the reason I hadn't discovered it sooner. I think the spacey, Lost in Translation-esque sound isn't really my thing. The lyrics are fine. In fact something I discovered AFTER I decided I loved this disc was the lyrics. The best moment in this song is the part that is ushered in by this phrase at "And spill it out on the ragged floor" at 54 seconds in. I do have to admit, I like these lyrics:

"You're not obliged to swallow anything you despise
See, those unrepenting buzzards want your life

And they got no right
As sure as you have eyes
They got no right "

The last part of the song from that point on is more like the rest of the album and I like that quite a lot.

2. Australia
How ironic, right? This one reminds me of The Smiths. Not sure why, exactly. Not familiar enough with The Smiths sound to really say it has that. This song doesn't seem to have any kind of lyrical hook or chorus... but it's great. There are moments toward the end that remind me of the late 60s music, The Archies, and all that,

"Been alone since you were twenty-one
You haven't laughed since January
You try and make like this is so much fun
But we know it to be quite contrary "

3. Pam Berry
I don't like this track as well. Here are the full lyrics to the 56 sec. song.

"This lass
Some fifteen odd years
Is widely known
To have spat
In her teacher's lap
And will not take it back
For now I see
How after all their crap
She rightly came to that."

4. Phantom Limb
The lyrics of this song are sort of bizarre and difficult to meld together to find some kind of deeper meaning.. I guess I'm not trying that hard.. but I will say I admire any song that uses words like this:
pilfered, latent, trite, zombie, and goathead. Actually, I take that back. I do have a sense of the meaning of the song, but It's full of allusion I don't understand.

Here's a snippet of lyrics that I think sum this one up a bit more:

"So when they tap our Sunday heads
Two zombies walk in our stead
This town seems hardly worth our time
And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme,
Too far along in our crime,
Stepping over what now towers to the sky,
With no connection "

5. Sealegs
This one is not one of my first favorites but I'm liking it better all the time. I like the images that it brings me. Ones that remind me of you and how you make me feel. I'm sure I don't want to make too close of a connection between the song and our relationship,espec. since I've not properly tried to disect the song. Let me share some lines I like:

"Girl, if you're a seascape
I'm a listing boat, for the thing carries every hope.
I invest in a single life.
The choice is yours to be loved"

"Of all the intersecting lines in the sand
I routed a labyrinth to your lap."

"We've no time to stall or protocol
To hem us in darling."

6. Red Rabbits
This one has a strange opening bit too, much like "Sleeping lessons."

"We've pissed on far too many sprites
And they're all standing up for their rights"

This line makes me think of that Oscar nominated foreign film from 2007, Pan's Labyrinth. This is a line that's repeated in the song. I really like the sound of this line.

"Born on a desert floor you've the deepest thirst
And you came to my sweet shore to indulge it"

This just has a great image to it.
This one too:

"So help me, I don't know I might
Just give the old dark side a try"

7. Turn on Me
This was the first song I loved on this album and not for any particular reason. I do like the first few bars of the song. It reminds me of some 60s songs or some country song.. it resonates. I like all the lyrics in this one. Here's a favorite clip:

"So affections fade away
And do adults just learn to play
The most ridiculous repulsive games
All our favorite ruddy sons
And their double-barreled guns
You better hurry
Rabbit run run run
'Cause mincing you is fun
And there's a lot of hungry hatters in this world
Set on taking it over
But brittle thorny stems
They break before they bend
And neither one of us is one of them"

8. Black Wave
This one has minimal lyrics and yet seems just as poetic as the rest. While it's not my favorite, it's still not one I'd skip.

9. Split Needles
For some reason, the music in this one appeals less to me. It's funny to say that since so many of the songs are alike in sound. It's hard to put my finger on it. It will probably turn out to be your favorite song, of theirs! :)

10. Girl Sailor
This is a good one. It has more of a clear story than any of the other songs. And the sound is great. Totally my kind of tune. "Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her"

11. A Comet Appears
This is a dismal ditty, but it's still worth a listen.

"One hand on this wily comet,
Take a drink just to give me some weight,
Some uber-man I'd make,
I'm barely a vapor"


--Kate