A Return to: The Shins

Now cliched as the typical 'indie band', The Shins are second in the series of my return to the music that I grew up with.

Lower Hutt was a wonderful place to grow up, but the suburbs didn't exactly teem with musical diversity. Hutt High's music taste (for the most part) didn't stretch far past the Foo Fighters, Metallica, Muse and Nirvana. This wasn't entirely our - or anybodies - fault. There were never any gigs in Lower Hutt, and we seldom ventured into the city to see bands since by the time they finished there would be no way for us to get home again without a $60 taxi fee. This prevention from discovering new bands, along with the 'download industry' still finding it's legs again after the stuttering Napster debacle meant that our only real means of spreading our wings to new musical terrority was Channel Z, and each other.

So I, along with the general mass of alternative enthusiasts stumbled upon the Shins through Zach Braffs 2004 indie wet-dream Garden State. I was more taken by the inherent idealism of the film more than the soundtrack, but the more I returned to Garden State the more the music dominated me. Through Braff I discovered Thievery Corporation, Zero 7, Iron & Wine, and (of course) the Shins.

I suppose my take of them was the same as everybody who first hears them: the bizzare melodies; the beautiful, timeless Simon-&-Garfunkelesque harmonies; the cryptic poetry and raw unfinished sound. I saw them live for the first time at the Vic Orientation in 2005 and was left so dazzled I immediately went out and bought their first album, and then there second a month later in Palmeston North. Anyone in my family can vouch for how absolutely mad I was for the band. For my eighteenth birthday my Mum bought me a brilliant novel, I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. Every night I would put both Shins albums into my CD changer and read from the first song on Oh, Inverted World (namely, Caring is Creepy) until the last on Chutes Too Narrow (those to come). I did this religiously until I had finished the thousand page marathon, which with my reading speed took a delightfully long time.

What I loved about the band was the sheer originality and personality. They could thrash their guitars around (So Says I), and then tilt their heads in bemusement (Saint Simon), and then lull you gently to sleep at the days end. They seemed to cover everything I loved in music at that point.

But their larger-than-life impression came more from the band themselves. I began to notice links between the Shins and other bands. The Shins covered a Postal Service song (We Will Become Silhouettes) as did Iron & Wine (Such Great Heights), 50% of the Postal Service was the singer from Death Cab for Cutie, and hold on, the Shins covered Iron and Wine as well... and holy shit, thats Iron & Wine singing New Slang with the Shins! This is a community!

You can see, The Shins were my education and induction into the world of lo-fi (and even the sometimes incestuous nature) indie music. There were others at my school who had the same experience but with different sources, and it was fucking wonderful to begin discussing Pinback and the Coral with people I'd barely talked to before. But my friend Giselle and I (secretly) saw ourselves as the true Shins believers... or so I remember.

In 2007 my dreams came true, and on January 29th the third Shins album was released. I had just come back from seeing the Vines, Violent Femmes and a stellar Muse set at Big Day Out, and a package was waiting for me in the mail box. I freakin love the internet sometimes. The Shins latest release to date Wincing the Night Away (a referrence to James Mercers crippling insomnia) is a step forward from their first two albums. An extra guitarist, and near over-use of electronic beats are two of the signature changes. But I think the main difference in sound is how the band hold themselves. The shoulders were back, and the head upright compared to their debut and sophomores nervous, weedy, cute indie kid lack of confidence.

The closest the album slipped to their earlier work was on the second track, Australia. The bouncing rhythm and chirpy vocals seemed to be the giggle from a soldier at arms struggling to keep a straight face.

But the central idea of the album was pinned down by the lead single, Phantom Limb.

...But then I went to Vic House and got really into hardcore for a couple of years.

But I wouldnt've if it wasn't for the Shins. They were my introduction to multiple new worlds of music. After my fascination with them died down I experimented with post-punk (new and original), funk, soul, psychobilly, screamo, synth-pop, post-rock, ambient-rock and lots of gentle singer-songwriter stuff by the likes of Antony and the Johnsons, Elliot Smith, Jeff Buckley and Damien Rice.

I still don't listen to them much anymore. I really thrashed that third album to death. But I listened to all of their albums and EPs in succession yesterday and remembered why I love them so much. And I know there will be a time when I can listen to them again constantly. Because, I really owe them so much.

Like This? Try This:

• Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
• The Books - Lemon of Pink
• Flake Music - When You Land Here It's Time to Return
• Handsome Furs - Face Control
• Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
• Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards
• The Decemberists - Picaresque
• The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls