eShop USA > Music > Wincing the Night Away
Wincing the Night Away
List Price: $15.98Our Price: $12.99 You Save: $2.99 (19%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Data not available
Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0098787070521
Label: Sub Pop
Manufacturer: Sub Pop
MPN: 705
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Sub Pop
Release Date: January 23, 2007
Studio: Sub Pop
Related Items: Featured Listmania!
Editorial Review:
Indie-rock's hardest-working slackers finally release their third album, on which they've made the clear transition from bedroom-pop to stadium-rock without losing everything that makes them great. Those soaring vocals that sound like the unholiest collision of the Cure and Simon and Garfunkel, the nimble pop hooks that are never overused, those lyrics that are as self-deprecating and razor sharp as they are playful--dude, it's all still here. Relax, you can still swoon. Musically, there are some new elements, from the ragged surf-rock that propels "Pam Berry" to the near hip-hop beats of "Sea Legs" and percolating electronica on "Sleeping Lessons" (which two thirds of the way through shows Band of Horses how to write a song). Wincing is neither the clever genre recombinant exercise of their second album nor is it the perfect little self-contained universe of their debut. This is not the Shins' best album; it's their growing pains third record. James Mercer has learned how to shout his words so the folks in the back row can hear; a slightly harder edge and more confidence is on display. But it doesn't gel fully. Mercer remains one of the most talented songwriters working in pop today, and what this album proves is that the group deserves to move beyond the little Zach-Braff-movie-watching, This-American-Life-listening, Frappuccino-sipping demo-ghetto they've found themselves in. Wincing confidently bristles with stupendous and smart rock music that deserves to be enjoyed by your kid brother and your folks as much as your dorm-mates. --Mike McGonigal
The Shins Get Their "Sea Legs"
More from the Shins & Friends
Oh, Inverted World | 
Chutes Too Narrow | 
Garden State Soundtrack (Features tracks by the Shins) |
It could be said that the Shins third album, Wincing the Night Away is the most heavily anticipated record of 2007. Post Garden State notoriety, the band has reached beyond their indie-darling status to something approaching mainstream recognition. Recorded over time in James Mercer's basement studio, Phil Ek's Seattle digs, and in Oregon City with veteran engineer Joe Chiccarelli (Beck, U2) - Wincing the Night Away is a whole new animal. It is the sound of a band growing up and out. Mercer's infectious, indelible melodic style is still at the core, and unfaltering. But anything can happen around it - and in this case, it does. Channeling a Morrissey vibe, "Sea Legs" pairs a hip-hop (yes, hip-hop) beat with lush melodic lines and searing guitars. Elsewhere the band toys with tweaked-out piano steeped in psychedelic strings ("Red Rabbit"); fractured synth samples ("Spilt Needles"); gauzy, arpeggiated keyboards cloaking thunderous anthems ("Sleeping Lessons"); and, taking cues from early Jesus and Mary Chain albums - sweeping, fuzztoned epics ("Phantom Limb"). Finally, "Turn on Me," "Girl Sailor" and "Australia" are the lilting, exhilarating, rollicking, rock-solid pop songs we've all come to covet from The Shins.
UK pressing of the 2007 release from The Shins, their third overall, comes in a standard jewel case (the domestic is digipak). Recorded over time in James Mercer's basement studio, Phil Ek's Seattle digs, and in Oregon City with veteran engineer Joe Chiccarelli (Beck,U2) - Wincing the Night Away is a Whole new animal. Its is the sound of a band growing up and out. Mercer's infectious, indelible melodic style is still at the core, and unfaltering. But anything can happen around it - and in this case, it does. Channeling a Morrissey vibe, 'Sea Legs' pairs a hip-hop (yes, hip-hop) beat with lush melodic lines and searing guitars. Elsewhere the band toys with tweaked-out piano steeped in psychedelic strings ('Red Rabbit'); fractured synth samples ('Silt Needles')' gauzy, arpeggiated keyboards cloaking thunderous anthems (Sleeping Lessons')' and, taking cues from early Jesus and Mary Chain albums - Seeping, fuzztoned epics ('Phantom Limb'). Finally, 'Turn on Me,' 'Girl Sailor' and 'Australia' are the lilting, exhilarating, rollicking, rock-solid pop songs we've all come to covet from The Shins.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - The Shins - Wincing The Night Away 8/10
It's been a good run for the Shins so far, a band that languished in typical indie-pop obscurity for seven years before exploding into popularity with their second album, Chutes Too Narrow (over 393,000 copies sold) and a Grammy nomination (for "Best Recording Package," true, but they take what they can get). Indeed, things were going good for New Mexico's prodigal sons.
Rather than give us another copy of Chutes Too Narrow, the album that, along with everyone's favorite indie-romantic ... Read More
Rating:  - WARNING
If you're unfamiliar with The Shins, or if you favor songs loaded with repetitive, predictable lyrics, then you might listen to this album once and walk away unsatisfied. However, dare to listen to it twice and you'll be hooked.
These guys may appear regular and unassuming, but they'll blindside the unsuspecting with haunting guitar rifts, offbeat drums, and playful lyrics that roll out in a refreshingly unfamiliar pattern - terrific fuel for the creative mind.
Rating:  - Good album + poor mastering = short life.
This is a pretty good album. Other reviewers have commented sufficiently about the songs and music.
It has one outstanding problem that many albums have these days. Someone wanted the CD to be loud. The drums sound awful. Distortion and clipping all over the place. Track 4 has guitar strums that are as loud as the drums, causing the drums to essentially disappear while the guitar is strummed! If it weren't for the fairly prolonged quite parts that The Shins tend to use, the album would be ... Read More
Rating: - You won't be sorry
Get this album now! I don't listen to anything else remotely resembling the Shins, but I LOVE this CD! The songs stay in your brain and come back weeks after you've shelved the thing. And in a good way. I wanted a different Shins CD last year and my wife picked this one up instead. Definitely my favorite!
Rating: - Pale Ale with Orange and Cinnamon.
The best of the music in this CD is perhaps the very best new music I've heard in several years. Even the less accessible tracks are somewhat odd but still vaguely familiar - a bit like going to the neighborhood bar for your customary pint of pale ale and finding it seasoned with orange and cinnamon.
Hey! It's all good. Drink up!
I hear bits of influence from the Replacements, from several unnamed avante garde poets, and even from the Beach Boys. And deep within is something ... Read More
Related Categories:
| |
 |
