Sorry to start a new thread about this, but no one was responding to that other one. Opinions on Wincing anyone? Track by track follows.

Sleeping Lessons - I really like this song. It starts out with some synths and distorted Mercer vocals. The first few minutes are pretty slow, but nice enough. About at a minute, things start to pick up with a light acoustic strum. Things begin to slowly pick up until at 2:30, when some heavy guitar kicks in (by Shins standards). All in all, I think this is a great track. 9/10

Australia - Definitly a more typical Shins song with bouncing acoustic guitar and a nice little melody. Classic Shins. Kind of cutesy lyrics, but not bad. 7/10

Pam Berry - A short little song with just James singing quietly over sustained guitar. Eh. 6/10

Phantom Limb - I think this the single. I might be wrong. Another fairly typical Shins song with light electric guitar and a pretty, sweeping chorus. Not bad, but pretty safe. 7/10

Sea Legs - Very different. A long song by Shins standards. Strings, flutes, silly synths. I dind't like this song the first few times I heard it. It's beginning to grow on me. I think my main issue is dealing with change. It's much different from any previous Shins song. I like change, I'm just not sure about this one. 6/10

Red Rabbits - Back to basics here. A very nice Shins melody over synths and light percussion. Guitar and strings come in midway through. Good lyrics. 8/10

Turn on Me - Probably the most familiar sound on the album. This is a good thing. Fun lyrics. While it's the most similar to their older stuff, I think it's a great song. 8/10

Black Wave - A very dark song. More minor chords than you might be used to from these guys. Plucked guitar with a high pitched sustained synth running through the background. Occasional electric guitar breaks through the mix. Different, darker, pretty good. 7/10

Split Needles - Another fairly dark song. High hat heavy drum line. Subtle guitar and heavy synths. At about 2:10, the song makes a 180 and becomes more light, guitar driven, with brighter melodies. Makes another 180 at about 3 minutes and reverts back to the original sound. I like the middle better the beginning and end. 6/10

Girl Sailor - A nice light melody. Not bad, though nothing special. 6/10

A Comet Appears - Light picked electric guitar over a pretty typical Mercer melody. Nice lyrics. Sounds more Inverted, than Chutes. Good. 8/10

Overall, it's different from the other two albums and takes getting used to. I still think it's a solid, if safe, effort from these guys. My favorite song so far is Sleeping Lessons with Turn on Me and A Comet Appears right behind that.

I'm looking forward to this one, but not enough to search for a leak. I think I'll wait 'til 2007 to try it. I've gotta get my 2006 list all in order first.

To those of you who are curious myspace.com/strikegently may be of interest...

I have to say, I'm really liking this. It might be their best album yet.

Sleeping Lessons - I like it - the song sped up as I did when I merged onto the interstate Saturday, so it's personal - 8/10

Australia - really like it, reminds me of "Modern World" by Wolf Parade - only w/o the segway from the previous track - 9/10

Pam Berry - no idea, I glaze over on this one - 5/10

Phantom Limb - First single, not their greatest, but hey - it's the Shins and it's different and it's really catchy and....the more I listen to it.... - 9/10

Sea Legs - arguably the best one on here; more atmospheric, shoe-gaze/glitchy than anything they've ever done - 9/10

Red Rabbits - a little too cutesy, but as with most Shins songs, the more I listen, the better it gets (or in this case, the less it grates) - 6/10

Turn on Me - Strong track - just a rock solid number here - 8/10

Black Wave - again, strong track - 8/10

Split Needles - LOVE LOVE LOVE this one - really moody, atmospheric (keep in mind, these are songs conceived in lieu of, and possibly to help cope with, Mercer's insomnia, I believe) - great late-night track - 9/10

Girl Sailor - It is the Shins. Like, it's good - you know it... - 8/10

A Comet Appears - Possibly the best track on here - easily their best closer yet - 9/10

Overall - Love it.

with some artists, I refuse to download advance copies. sadly, I think the shins are one of those artists.

I do believe that this album will kick my ass all over the place, though. definitely looking forward to it.

When I first heard this album I was pretty upset. Songs like "Sea Legs" really put me off because they sounded almost like Madonna. Now I love it. My favorite tracks are "Sleeping Lessons", "Split Needles" and "A Comet Appears." This album is very interesting because it's not nearly as catchy as "Chutes" or "Inverted." It reminds me of Death Cab's "Plans" because it's their first album really in the spotlight and, instead of writing an album full of singles, as Colin Meloy did, Mercer wrote eleven very subtle tracks. Great album.

I think I'm missing something here. How is The Island, or Crane Wife 1 & 2, a single?

Sea Legs reminds me of Beck. The second half of the album still kind of fades out for me, I'll have to listen to it more. Cars are the best places to test out albums, really.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
Cars are the best places to test out albums, really.

This is true.

quote:

Originally posted by Chamberk:
I think I'm missing something here. How is The Island, or Crane Wife 1 & 2, a single?

yeah ok. I was thinking of maybe six of the ten tracks.

I do feel a bit guilty getting this album so far ahead of its release, but I also suspect that the labels want some leaks. It helps to have some crazy folks out there who can't contain their eagerness. Builds great early momentum for the main release when some early adopters grab hold and start influencing.

But, I will be buying the real thing when it comes out too.

I've had Wincing now for about 24 hours and it's growing on me. With Chutes, I was a veteran Shins fan and immediately loved the songs even though they were very different from Inverted World. It took no time at all for me to love Chutes.

Oh Inverted World on the other hand did take me some time to love. I got it on a whim when it first came out and really only liked Girl On A Wing and Know Your Onion.. (Kinks stuff gets me all the time!) But after repeated listening I soon loved every song. Made it easy to love Chutes when it came out.

I think Wincing is going to fit somewhere in between. First listen and I was thinking that it was a bit too sparse, a bit too lethargic. I missed the accoustic guitar strums and easy melodies of Chutes. There's an energy to great melody that James has always seemed to create and I wasn't feeling it on Wincing.

But now, I can feel the songs working on me. Once I really understand the lyrics I think that this album is going to settle in for a long stay with me.

Sleeping Lessons - the payoff here is great. What starts slow ends with a lot of restrained energy.

Austrailia - Very quickly enjoyable. Actually sounds like it could have accompanied They'll Soon Discover off of the Spongebob soundtrack. Great melodies. Closer to the Chutes Shins than most other songs on this album.

Pam Berry - Not a big fan of in-between noise fest intros. But I'll let the Shins indulge themselves with this.

Phantom Limb - The single and quite Kinksy with one part of the melody right out of Brian Wilson's brain. The thumpy tambourine and tuba-style bass line didn't sit well with me at first, but now I kind of see the song from a distance a bit better.

Sea Legs - Fantastic. Beckish. But better. If I'd heard it outside of the album I'm not sure I would have even thought it was The Shins.

Red Rabbits - Really great melody. I think I'll learn to love this one.

Turn On Me - The one that used to be called Circus Walk. I like it way more than the live version and it feels like an evolution of Turn A Square.

Black Wave - Slow throughout. We'll see, but not sure this one will work for me.

Split Needles - Wow. Very different. This one works for me on just about every level. Again with the thumpy kind of bass, heavy accents on the highhat. Were they listening to Rush? Ha! Strong song I think.

Girl Sailor - Also known as Won One Too Many Fights. I've loved that live version for a long time now and I'm afraid that this one just slows it down too much. It feels like when I first heard WHen I Goosestep as a live version and then heard the studio version a while later.

A Comet Appears - This is the one that makes me want to learn it on guitar. Pure melody, slow, but he just works his voice into the song so well. Awesome closer.

I first heard it in my car aswell, the first minute of sleeping lessons I thought 'oh my god what have they done' and felt let down to the point were I turned the volume down and talked over the rest of the album.
Then after about 5 listens through the whole CD it started to grow on me. Now after about 20 listens I believe its their best album.
It flows better than the other 2 and the songs are stronger and more thought out, very consistent. But it is a grower, you've been warned.

Highlights: sea legs, phantom limb and the high la la las during the intro to australia, awesome.
It will be interesting to see where it ends up in 12 months time when I do my best of 2007 lists!

wow, i just got this last night. AMAZING. It's one of those albums that you have to let grow on you. After a few listens, I am hooked. I personally like Red Rabbits the most, for some reason. Perhaps the best shins album yet?

I like the first two Shins albums, and haven't heard a note from this. I'll get it once it comes out for sure. However...

This has got to be once of the most anticipated Sup Pop albums of the past few years. Indie pop/rock is inching into the mainstream, and is now for the most part regular alternative music. The Shins are poster boys for the type of indie band that could blow up huge like Death Cab (or bigger). They also have all of the Garden State/Natalie Portman exposure.

So, with all of that, why is this being released in January where all record labels bury their crappy releases? Its got to be for the most part finished and its now November. Due to the timing, if this were good it could jump to the top of the year-end lists before it gets stale. Again, I haven't heard it and the reviews above sound positive, but I have a feeling this will be a big disappointment from their first two. I hope I'm wrong.

Maybe so they can put 2007 on the release and milk it for the whole year and maybe the next (in other countries) they did it for chutes too narrow. But it IS strong enough to make it through the whole year without a doubt.. but saying that 2007 is going to be a big year, its like the record companies are planning a face off.

Still, the general public isn't out buying CD's in January. They've blown their cash and maxed their credit cards for X-Mas, and only real music fans will care about this. Its either poor marketing or they know it sucks and it wouldn't have been big anyways. This is such an eagerly awaited release, I doubt its poor marketing. Again, I hope I'm wrong.

I totally get what you're saying, Hophead, but I also think that the fact that nothing else good comes out in January can play into their favor. It's not as if everyone is completely bankrupt, but maybe it's worth releasing something in January because there are no other major album releases to take away from its publicity. I mean, it may be the only album in P-Fork's 'Best New Music' section for the first 2 months, and that by itself is some serious publicity.

Agreed. Cat Power's The Greatest came out this January which was another pretty big indie release and it had to have sold ok. Bright Eyes' I'm Wide Awake its Morning came out in January of 2005 which was another big one. My logic is probably shit. Anyways, I hope its good.

What about all the kids that get money for xmas and have to trawl around the mall with parents and relatives during break, running off to the record shop and seeing the new shins album would brighten any kids shopping mall experience. Cha-ching.

I don't foresee this making it into Pfork's Best New Music. Pfork tends to treat established bands with a great deal of scrutiny and good records from great bands get bad reviews from Pfork. Modest Mouse's Good News, YYY's Show Your Bones, and Wilco's A Ghost is Born are prime examples. I realize that none of those albums are great, but they are solid and they got panned by Pfork. I see the same thing happening with this album.