thier new cd is great. i like it at least as much as "oh inverted world". i wanna see these dudes live. great, great band
I got this a few weeks ago, forgot to say anything. Yea, very good. If you like the first one, you'll love this.
I love Pitchforkmedia, but they have a tendency, a very large tendency, to go waaay over the top. Much like this line from the review... " "Saint Simon", one of two or three songs on the record that could easily contend for song of the year, sees Mercer exploring an almost Bacharach-ian level of melodic sophistication" Uh, okay...I like this record, but you're talking about Burt Bacharach, the man who has written more relationship-changing melodies than we've had hot meals. But anyway...buy the record, it's good.
Oh my. It's good. Very, very good. Not as good as Oh, Inverted World, but I think that album is a masterpiece, so it's totally unfair to expect that level of genuis. But this album is more diverse, and a bit more daring. Not a bad song on it, and some of them are masterworks. So far, the countrified "Gone for Good" is my favorite, but that might change. My one complaint -- and it's a minor one -- is the vocals. I love the unapologetic wailing, the unprofessional warble, the almost grating quality of the vocals on Oh, Inverted World, and to a lesser extent, on the Shins' 7" that preceded it. The vocals on Chutes seems more polished, more controlled, more refined, on most cuts. But that's okay. They still rule. I want to marry the Shins. And I'm a guy.
NY Times article on The Shins: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/22/arts/music/22CMJ.html Haven't read it, but thought I'd post the link.
I bought it last night and listened to it on the way to work. A couple of very quick thoughts... 1. It's short. It's just under 34 minutes. 2. If you hold the cd upside-down, the band becomes The Snihs. 3. Generally it sounds more polished than OIW, though it still has several half-a-song moments. Things just start and stop often, like a good Monty Python skit they're jumping forward to the good stuff and not trying to write a coherent ending. Very reminiscent of Minutemen. 4. James' vocals sound a lot like Jackson Browne in several points. 5. Best song? Probably "So Says I" or "Fighting In A Sack". "Saint Simon" is little too much trying to repeat the slow-tempo success of "New Slang". Overall, I think I'll like it. Let's see how they are tonight.