Top 10 Favorite The Shins Music Videos on YouTube

The Shins are an excellent indie rock band that have released three albums. They've had a steady climb in popularity since songs from their first album "Oh, Inverted World" were made famous by the soundtrack for the film "Garden State". The Shins' sound contains '60s britpop with '80s shoegazer influences, and features plenty of sweet pop melodies with florid and oftentimes opaque lyrics, and lots of very clever hooks, from singer/songwriter/guitarist James Mercer. They also have a hard rocking element which comes across most clearly in their energetic live concerts. Here are some excellent official music videos and various live videos of the Shins that I've found on YouTube.

1. Phantom Limb
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkITsv3Nk6M

This is an interesting music video (and seems higher budget than some of their past ones) comprised of several sequences from "the best school play ever". The song is from the The Shins' brand new album "Wincing the Night Away".

2. Pink Bullets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XBabozrPGA

This is a creative stop-motion animated video about a sad paper mache cow, for the song from the album "Chutes Too Narrow". The animator Adam Bizanski uses light and color to great effect.

3. Saint Simon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqYMRcnLU0o

This is a very cute video featuring tons of real monarch butterflies, for a song from "Chutes Too Narrow". The imagery seems to match the sing-song "la da da da" refrain perfectly. I must say, however, that the part with the butterflies covering the band is actually quite creepy. (I assume it was intentional.)

4. So Says I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-P15e6NvtU

Here's a whacky 3-d animated video about communist penguins, for a single from "Chutes Too Narrow".

5. Australia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNNNrnHF9Bo

This is a good live-the-in-studio recording of a song from "Wincing the Night Away".

6. Turn Me On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoHqrgB7ZrE