Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Listening to this album will not make you wince!, 29 April 2007
"Wincing the Night Away" is the third full-length album from this great pop quartet. While the two earlier records came in under thirty-four minutes, this new release, which includes eleven songs, lasts 41:50.
James Mercer, the songwriter, is very highly regarded for his musical facility, less so for his thematic depth.
In that regard, the melodies on this album are generally on a par with the nuggets that came out before. Moreover, the Shins also know how and when to add muscle and to release the purple haze. And do not make a mistake: this is a very delicate alchemy.
On the other end, the lyrics are more opaque than ever. Although in line with the widespread indie fondness for cryptic poetry, I think that they stem from James Mercer notorious feeling of insecurity. In many instances, the lyrics are so undecipherable that one can only understand them after reading what he said about them (a case in point being "Phantom Limb" and its couple of lesbians.) I am under the impression that the lyrics sound laboured.
During the three years elapsed since their sophomore album, Mercer felt the pressure to come with an album satisfying the expectations his surprise classic had created and also to keep his music fresh. He seemingly did spend a lot of time with synthesizers in his home studio (the album title hints maybe at this.)
Neither a move backwards nor a radical departure the album is a mix of quintessentially Shins songs and tracks that take their sound in subtly or not so subtly different directions.
On most of the tracks, various keyboards, strings and miscellaneous sounds, wash the guitar lines. In addition, Mercer's voice is often multi-tracked, echoed or otherwise "treated."
Producer Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2) and engineer Phil Ek have brought a slicker, more spacious production style to The Shins' sound. Any tendency towards lo-fi is gone.
I feel that there is a definite move towards "progressive" music although the group has sufficient good taste as to avoid any trace of prog grandiosity.
This time, the Shins' love of decades past has changed perspectives. On parts of the album, the feel evokes the 80's rather than the 60's (although the latter component is still there.) On other parts, the sound is steeped firmly in the current indie scene.
The first track, "Sleeping Lessons", sees a soft vibraphone arpeggio immediately followed by a burbling keyboard sequence and an aggressive, processed voice.
Later on, the guitars get into action; the drums are pounding whilst the voice, now overdubbed into several parts, reaches for its upper register. But almost as soon as the tune gets loud, it goes into a slow fade.
"Phantom Limb", the single, is closest to their earlier songs, with its banging tambourine, strummed chords, and soaring falsetto lines.
"Black Wave" is another standout, a stark ballad with chilly layers of electronic textures surrounding James Mercers plaintive vocals. "Split Needles" continues this dark, dreamy, fractured synth-heavy feel.
"Australia" has a pretty refrain while the guitars are reminiscent to me of the 80's jangle rock from REM.
On "Sea Legs," guitars and multiple voices intertwine but the song's faintly hip-hop backbeat firmly plants it in the 21st century. And while "Girl Sailor", with its picked, quavery guitars has overtones of the Kinks' music, its guitar effects places it in the here and now.
In the end, I think that the long period of work has been musically profitable to the band and I find this album is excellent. Moreover, the group proves that it can successfully grow out of a mould and this augurs well for the future.
|
|
|
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Won't cause wincing, 3 Feb 2007
The Shins were described in "Garden State" as a band that will change your life. Tall order, but it got people listening to this brilliant indiepop band's first two albums, and radically raised expectations for their third.
And "Wincing The Night Away" won't disappoint their fans, as they're just moving the same pop aesthetic forward. The Shins' third album sounds confident and polished, with its bizarrely appealing lyrics and a wintry pop sound.
It opens with running footsteps and a shimmering string of synth notes. "Go without 'til the need seeps in/you low animal, collect your novel petals for the stem/And glow, glow, melt and flow/eviscerate your fragile frame," James Mercer croons, sounding like a pensive ghost. Then the melody grows stronger and more intense, until it erupts into a rousing guitarpop tune.
Things get a bit cheerier with the rousing, upbeat sound of "Australia" ("So give me your hand,/And let's jump out the window!") and the fuzzy, ominous sound of a one-minute interlude. After that, the band happily bounces out onto catchy sinuous indiepop, gauzy little melodies, rousing guitar pop, ghostly folky songs, and the surprisingly soft finale "A Comet Appears."
But the highlight has to be the main single, "Phantom Limb," a glorious fuzz-guitar pop tune with surreal lyrics: "So, when they tap our mundane heads/To zombie-walk in our stead/This town seems hardly worth our time/And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme..."
The Shins may have come out with the first really brilliant album of the year, by not changing all the good things about their music. Instead, these guys just tighten up what they already had -- brilliant pop music, complex instrumentation, and really bizarre lyrics.
These tight little songs are usually little swirls of guitar and fuzzy bass, tight and catchy. They're backed with some sharp percussion, smooth strings and waves of shimmery, freezing synth; as the final touch, they throw on some tambourine, as well as a dripping sound in the airy "Red Rabbits."
Mercer's smooth vocals are excellent when he's singing straightforward pop vocals, but he also sounds brilliant when he sings echoey, ghostly songs. The lyrics are full of soulless cities, dead moons, plastic surgery, and eerie love songs ("You belong to a simpler time/I'm a victim to the impact of these words,/And this rhyme"). He sings out the bizarre lyrics as if he was born to.
The Shins are better than ever in "Wincing the Night Away," a glorious collection of brilliant pop tunes. A great way to kick off 2007's music.
|
|
|
11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Music in it's most magical form!, 19 Jan 2007
I had massive hopes for 'Wincing the Night Away' and was counting down the days until its release. Being a huge fan of The Shins 'Oh Inverted World' and 'Chutes Too Narrow' I saw a band that was developing in a really interesting and yet very natural way.
James Mercer had talked about the wait for 'Wincing' being worth the time because it gave them time to tweak it and make it as good as possible. The results are truly magical and I couldn't have asked for more. I am positive that this band is headed towards being one of the best in the world. In Ireland I have struggled to find other Shins fans and any friends I try to tell them about show a really uninterested attitude. Pity because they don't realise just how much they are missing.
I have been crazy about a number of bands over the last 15-20 years such as enigma, the cure, the rolling stones, etc but The Shins are absolutely the band I have spent my life searching for. They convey the exact emotions and sounds I look for in music - uplifting, magical, interesting, creative, imaginative, ethereal, and just totally addictive.
My advice to anyone who is a fan of music (regardless of whether you're familiar with The Shins or not) is buy the album - it just might change your life. You have to know their first two albums to fully appreciate the huge development in their sound and the big leaps forward they have made in this album. Keep it up Shins, you are totally amazing. Please come to Ireland so I can see you live!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
~ The Shins
~ The Shins
~ Fleet Foxes
~ MGMT
~ Bon Iver
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home