It's always nerve wracking to watch good, little known bands slowly regress into mediocre, popular bands.
With "Wincing the Night Away," The Shins threaten to go down that road of selling out for bigger venues and better record deals.
The latest LP sports a sound that mixes Beach Boys vocals with the edgy, offkey pop sounds reminiscent of Death Cab For Cutie. The Shins' newest album certainly serves up their most mellow and fan friendly material to date.
Tracks such as "A Comet Appears" will remind listeners of "New Slang," a single from the band's debut "Oh, Inverted World." This kind of relaxed style of music is profuse throughout the album, while the rough yet oddly pleasant indie ranting from their first two albums are absent.
In place of this are songs like the single "Phantom Limb," a very nice ode to any Brian Wilson helmed ballad, but an ode nonetheless.
After "Oh, Inverted World," the group released "Chutes Too Narrow," a sophomore effort that experimented with thicker lyrics and faster beats, accenting their diversity of talent.
With "Wincing" it seems that the group wanted to stay on familiar ground, never straying too far from that chilled out genre of music made popular from movies like "Garden State."
The Shins' appearance in the "Garden State" soundtrack put them on the map. It makes sense that the group would want to break out with the same sound that broke them in, but at what cost?
Do not take this the wrong way, tracks such as "Sleeping Lessons" and "Black Wave" are well done, slightly psychedelic romps. The song "Red Rabbits" provides some of the wondrous curiosity that made their first two albums so much fun to listen to without straying away from the album's sound.
"Wincing the Night Away" does contain good music, and should be treated with respect. However, it's nothing that anyone hasn't heard before.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
