The Shins
Wincing the Night Away
Sub Pop, 2007
By Krystle van Hoof
Every year my high school friends and I complete a best-of-the-year music ballot so we can laugh at each other’s lack of hipster acumen — I mean, so we can learn about new music. This year’s ballot raised the question of the best and worst new music trends. It brought to mind a question from Chris Ott that I had read in the Village Voice: “Have we reached the point where we’ll celebrate a band for how overtly or exactly they imitate a predecessor?”
Maybe we have, and maybe that’s okay. But for the LOVE OF GOD, can we try to mix it up a bit? If the postmodern condition has you so tied up in knots that you truly believe that nothing new can ever be created, at least combine old shit in a new way. Jesus.
Take The Shins, for example. I’m not a fan of their previous albums. Too slow, too boring — precisely what I’d call “Sleeping Lessons” (a decent track on this album, but a more apt name for earlier releases). On their latest album, Wincing the Night Away, the production values are better, the tracks are catchier (read: they no longer put me to sleep), and there isn’t anything terribly bad. But is that all we look for now? “Not terribly bad”? What happened to “brilliant,” or “blows our jaded little minds”?
I’ll spare you the “they sound like this-meets-and-marries-that” rhetoric. You can draw your own conclusions in that regard – I won’t spoil the fun for you. Besides, their previous albums are null and void in terms of comparisons; the new album trades in their folky acoustics for a few fun computer tricks. I am all for this change in sound, but I didn’t like them to begin with. Who knows if The Shins’ true fans will feel the same?
Just to quell the bile of those who disagree with me, a more measured (read: less bitchy) approach to this album would inform you that the strongest track is definitely “Sea Legs” which does a nice job of combining their old sound with this new thing they’re trying out. There’s some neat electronic stuff, and the vocals and melody aren’t as formulaic as the other songs. (Listen to “Turn on Me” and tell me that the chorus doesn’t sound like “Cleveland Rocks” from The Drew Carey Show!).
Damn, I was almost magnanimous for a minute there.
Don’t expect this music to change anyone’s life. If it does, it probably isn’t for the better, but if it is, well, I apologize — that’s very sad.
If you really love the Shins (God help you), but you don’t like Wincing the Night Away, then there’s just no hope for you. This album is by far the best thing they’ve ever released. There, that was kind of pleasant.
