The Shins - Album Review
Oh, Inverted World is one of those albums that I hope to have hanging out in my collection through the ages. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget the bright voices or loud riffs of its songs, especially since I saw The Shins perform it live. There is a little bit of everything to be found in this album, and I can’t wait to listen to it again and again.
The Shins is an extremely talented alternative rock group, signed by Sub Pop records, which formed in 1997, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The band includes lead be an odd looking singer named James Mercer, a tubby little fellow who is their keyboardist/guitarist/bassist named Martin Crandall, bassist/guitarist Dave Hernandez, and drummer Jesse Sandoval. While playing live some people find it hard to assign Crandall and Hernandez to one role in the band because they swap instruments so regularly. It’s simply amazing how many different genres of music you can hear in their music and that they can so artfully combine them without making it sound like fingernails on a chalk board.
In the soaring vocals and inventive melodies of Oh, Inverted World lives remnants of pop, alternative, rock, country, folk, and indie-rock. Bands that appear to have influenced their sound include The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Hollies and Pink Floyd. They can be compared to more recent bands such as Death Cab for Cuties, Modest Mouse (they toured with in 2000) and Coldplay.
The Shins have had much of their lilting lyrical genius used in other media. The two tracks “Caring Is Creepy” and “New Slang” from Oh, Inverted World, were used in the 2004 movie Garden State. In this movie Natalie Portman did The Shins a little justice when she said the song “New Slang” will “change your life”. “New Slang” has also been used in the sitcom Scrubs as well as the 7th season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Finally, the two songs “Know Your Onion!” and “So Says I” appeared on separate occasions in the TV series Gilmore Girls....
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