New Shins: ‘Phantom Limb’
Note: Must get through piece without mentioning ‘Garden State’.
I expect the majority of you reading this will already have this if you have a little interest in The Shins, along with the entire album. While the leak of ‘Wincing The Night Away’ was just about the worst kept musical secret of 2006, it’s nice to actually be able to write about and share one of the songs without the threat of a lawsuit. If you’re one of the nice, law abiding folks who hasn’t heard the album yet, here’s your very first taste of it.
‘Phantom Limb’ is the first single to be released from ‘Wincing’, and it’s pretty good. I’m going to use a qualifer like “pretty” because I still haven’t made up my mind on it, or ‘Wincing’ as a whole. It’s certainly a good song, all typically beautiful imagery and a story of forbidden love. It’s all very polished too, which is where the problem comes from. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a polished record to the point I prefer ‘Chutes Too Narrow’ over ‘Oh, Inverted World’ by a large margin. It’s just that this feels a little overdone. It’s kind of the same feeling I get listening to Death Cab’s ‘Plans’. It’s still great music, but it lacks the original feel that the earlier material gave out. Now you could turn round and argue that this is just the developing sound of a band, and it would be a perfectly valid argument. I don’t doubt that this will be The Shins’ biggest success to date, and while it may alienate a few of the original fans, I’m sure that the Garden Staters will lap it up.
Oh, bugger.
‘Wincing The Night Away’ will be released via Sub Pop Records on January 23.
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