The Shins' New Album is Good, but Overproduced

This album represents a change for The Shins. Their earlier releases were lower budget, more lyric-driven than instrumental, and in general I think more heartfelt and original. One of my favorite things about The Shins is their almost uncanny ability to relax the listener. I know of few ways to recover from a hard day faster than putting on "Chutes Too Narrow" and getting lost in the music. "Wincing," however, makes a few noted departures from this quality of The Shins earlier work, especially with tracks 2 and 3, which seem more heavily influenced by Modest Mouse-style indie rock than anything The Shins had previously released. In general, I think The Shins would have faired a little better if they'd spent more time writing the songs and a little less time creating interesting atmospheric effects and synthesizer tracks for the background.

The tunes on this CD are overall not as catchy as those on earlier Shins albums. If I listen to "Chutes Too Narrow" I usually end up with "Kissing the Lipless" or "Fighting in a Sack" stuck in my head for days, whereas I've listened to "Wincing" several times, and seldom leave humming the tunes.

The first track on the album, "Sleeping Lessons," is a wonderful tune. Its simple, minimalist instrumentation immediately grabs the listener and makes the song stick out. Then James Mercer begins to get angry. This is something that seldom happens, but that I wish would happen more. Lines like "you're not obliged to swallow anything you despise," have a great defiant ring to them, and are very memorable. The song is both rocking and relaxing - a difficult juxtaposition which is masterfully done.

"Australia," the album's second track, is more influenced by indie rock than most of The Shins' work. It begins with spoken words in a strange accent, and even contains a little shouting. Also, the way the "la la la" is harmonized with the instruments strongly reminded me of something Modest Mouse might do. It's certainly not a bad song, but it does represent a significant departure from The Shins have put out in the past.