New Slang in The Shins' Wincing the Night Away

The Shins are about to be that band that you'd always known. With the successful release of their third album Wincing the Night Away, they've completed their contract with indie label SubPop Records and are now ready for the big time. With their loyal fan base (Wincing debuted at #2 on Billboard Top 200 and could be found in every domestic Starbucks, to boot) as well as the new-found acclaim that all burgeoning bands begin with (Letterman, SNL, etc) the band is embarking on a huge tour and will soon be making a stop in a venue near you.

On Wincing the Nigh Away, James Mercer, The Shins wiry lead vocalist and songwriter, said he'd tried to address the "human condition" which was the same sentiment I'd had about this disc. After carefully listening through it a couple of times on their myspace page (where it lived before its official release) a chord had been struck. While listening to the song Phantom Limbs, I kicked along to the slapping beat that with its oddly psychedelic haze reminded me of the Monkeys or Weezer. There was a little line in that song that hit me: "family portrait circa '95." As I played it for my girlfriend I said to her, "That's about as genuine as you can get." While The Shins had always been moody and ethereal and definitely distant and strange in their own calculated manner, I finally felt a connection to the singer through his words. It'll be another hundred years until someone can harkens back to a recent family photograph with the phrase "circa '95." 1995 people. We're all living in the present moment! The future's slipping away from us; what's past is past but damn it, the present is so beautiful; the sentiments on Wincing the Night Away are so genuine and with a vibe of growing up without growing old, The Shins have done it again; matured to their next level without appearing played out.