Wincing the Night Away [Digipak] (CD - 2007)

Personnel: James Mercer (vocals, guitar, banjo, ukulele, synthesizer, percussion); Chris Funk (lap steel guitar, bouzouki, hammer dulcimer); Paloma Griffin (violin); Marty Crandall (organ, synthesizer, percussion); Jesse Sandoval (drums); Anita Robinson (background vocals).

Audio Mixer: Joe Chiccarelli.

Recording information: Avast! 2, Seattle, WA; Supernatural Sound, Oregon City, OR; The Aural Apothecary, Portland, OR.

Illustrator: Robert Pierce Mercer.

With their music referred to as "life-changing" in the popular 2004 film GARDEN STATE, the Shins, already a revered indie-rock band, recorded their third Sub Pop studio album under the weight of high expectations. Finally, in early '07, the group emerged with the strikingly ambitious and accomplished WINCING THE NIGHT AWAY.

On the opening "Sleeping Lessons," woozy keyboard lines and the wavering vocals of frontman James Mercer immediately announce WINCING as a departure, but slowly the drifting atmospherics give way to a guitar-driven rave-up. Much of the record echoes this more expansive sound, with the shimmering "Phantom Limb" hitting a cavernous crescendo, and the dreamy, synth-laden "Red Rabbits" bordering on ambient territory. Of course, the Shins haven't forsaken their knack for pop-perfect tunes, as best evinced by the exuberant "Australia," proving that they can temper newfound experimentalism with the quirky, easy-going charm that garnered them attention in the first place. minimize