during a 2001 gig, supporting modest mouse in san francisco, the lives of the shins (and of indie-rock fans the world over) were changed forever.  unbeknownst to the band, sub pop ceo jonathan poneman was in the audience that night.  he found his next band; the rest was indie-rock history.   their third l.p., wincing the night away was released january 23, 2007.

you may also recognize the shins from their contributions to  the soundtrack of the 2004 movie, garden state with zack braff and natalie portman.  in the words of princess amidala, "(the shins' song) 'new slang' will change your life."

this album, recorded like the others in lead singer james mercer's basement, is much more mature than their two previous contributions.  in it, i hear considerable influence from the birds, donovan, the beach boys and contemporaries morrissey and badly drawn boy.  with moments both bittersweet and exhilarating, this album has something for everybody.

you know you love the shins, so when you can, go see them live!  they're not touring right now, but i'll keep my eye out.  until they tour, click here to watch a set recorded for morning becomes eclectic, on l.a.'s legendary kcrw.  if that's not enough, click here to listen to a short set recorded live for wxpn and world café live on january 12, 2007.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand).  incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states.  that my friend, bites.