Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Kick in the Shins

For the last three months, buzz has been consistently building for the release of indie darlings The Shins' third record, "Wincing the Night Away," which hits stores Jan. 23.

SubPop sent me a CD single sometime in November that featured the killer first single, "Phantom Limb," along with two B-sides. By just listening to "Phantom Limb," I knew this record would live up to the hype. Well, the whole album dropped into my mailbin a couple days ago, and let's just say it hasn't left my CD player yet.

"Wincing" is definitely one of the most highly anticipated records of 2007, and I'll just say one thing to all you Shins fans out there: Get excited. Get every excited.

I'll publish a full review in Weekend Jan. 26, but just know that it's very rare that a band can grow as much as The Shins do on this disc, while still maintaining the core qualities that made the group special originally. This is a BIG record, but one that Natalie Portman would say "will change your life."

Between The Shins and The Broken West, two four-star discs will be available Jan. 23. Get them both and take the next day off from work and enjoy.

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