As usual, I'm the last to find out about these things. Sorry if this band has been discussed here already, but I must rant... When it comes to rock/pop music, I'm almost perpetually stuck in the years of '77-'84. Rarely does anything new send me reeling. Flying in under the radar of the mostly overhyped garage barrage, is one of the best albums of the decade. The Shins blend Kinks/Jam style pop and an indie rock flavor with a hint of..what is that? Simon and Garfunkle? It may sound like a cluster-fuhk, but they pull it off perfectly. The production is absolutely luscious. And the tunes are catchy as anything. The first A+ album I've heard since Komeda's "What makes it Go?" (1998).
yeah got this album a while back..... very very good. "know your onion" is a great song, so is "girl on the wing". it's just too bad the album is only about 35 minutes long. can't wait for thier next album
There's a band here in Baltimore called the Slow Jets that put out a similar album in 2000 called "Worm into Pheonix". A brilliant hodge-podge of material they had been working on since '98 or so. You can find it in the catalog of Morphius Records at http://morphius.com/label/index2.html It's more lo-fi and rock guitar based than "Oh, inverted world..." (mainly because they paid for recording and mastering themselves) but the pop-tacular brilliance of it shines through. If it weren't for it's local lo-fi status and it's complete and utter unmarketability outside of college and underground radio, I'd call it the next great coming of guitar pop (or something equally pompous and bombastic). Unfortunetly, the Slow Jets latest release, "Good Morning, Stars" suffers from personel and idea changes in the band. The drummer went off and formed The Oranges (who were just signed to Look Out! records), and many of the new songs lack the quirky, jerky, instant catchiness of "Worm into Pheonix".
another band in a similar vein that i am very into right now is spoon never liked them at all before but i think the new album is really strong on melody and cool production
I like Spoon. They make smart and catchy rock and roll. I only have a compilation CD of their stuff that a friend made for me, so I'm not sure how consistant they are...but so far so good.
Oh, and I just remembered... the old drummer from the Slow Jets, now fronts the Oranges, who toured with Spoon, who liked him so much they got him to play bass for them for the rest of the tour. It's a small world after all.