Music Envy: Album of the Week

The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

Song Highlight: Australia

“It’s time to put sie ear-goggles on..”

“NO!”

I’m not even sure I can fully comprehend what motivates and inspires The Shins, but i do know that they nailed it with Wincing the Night Away. I’ve been on the fence about The Shins ever since Garden State came out. I went back and bought or listened to in some capacity their previous releases. To be honest, I was baffled. I found the lyrics to be a little too clever for their own good. The melodies a little bit too complex, everything just a little too self indulged for my tastes. Turns out I was just not ready. With this record, I think that the band perfects the formula for a Shins record that has mass appeal. I think Sub-Pop Records would agree with this, as Wincing debuted at number 2 on the charts — a first for Sub Pop.

With Australia, Mercer demonstrates his knowledge of the English lexicon, carefully crafting a tale instructing the listener to seize the day. Although the lyrics are hard to memorize — even after countless listens — its quite easy to see the beauty in them. Lyrically there is no repeating chorus in sight but I still find myself botching the words to “You be damned to be one of us, girl, faced with the dodo’s conundrum - I felt like I could just fly”

Musically — Australia gets my foot tapping immediately with a simple shuffle and a refreshingly bouncy bass line. Who can argue with a few “la la la’s” to get the melody established? Not I. From here the song establishes a delicate ebb and flow of guitars beautifully arranged to near sonic perfection. Let’s not forget the Banjo breakdown at 1:53. Killer. The song’s solo section really builds on the bounciness of the bass line, and captures the mood of song while driving it forward. My take? 4 minutes of Indie-pop bliss.

“Wincing the Night Away” is really a quality record. I hope that everyone who has not heard this record has been given a little bit of insight into a record that halfwaynorth wholeheartedly and unanimously enjoys. For those who are already familiar I hope you gave the record a spin this week.

— Jason Abraham