The Shins

Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
by Scott Hefflon

Yup, there’s a reason people love this band. They write great melodies, yet they aren’t afraid to experiment outside the indie pop rock realm. They’re from Albuquerque, NM, some members are self-taught musicians, they all share a love of British pop, and ’60s pop in particular, and they didn’t make a predictably great album. Of the first handful of songs, half of them are experiments that, well, flop. Ambitious to front-load the follow-up to your break-through album with your weird shit than most anyone would try like hell to convince you to stick at the end, once you’ve proven yourself again. Some great songs here, and nicely humble and accessible, no smug rockstars these guys.
(www.subpop.com)