I was convinced I'd already written about this album, but apparently I haven't - I googled to check and everything. I've told the story about the time I saw The Shins so many times I figured I must have written it here too, but I haven't, so here it is for the first time.
It's not a great story - nothing particularly exciting happens - in fact, it's hard to write it such that it sounds anywhere near as good as it was. Basically, we saw The Shins play at Leeds Festival, the sun was shining and everything felt right with the world. We'd got a bunch of free Jack Daniels cocktails (we were working on another bar, so alcohol was a currency) and were still a while from starting our shift. The weather had been a bit miserable, but the sun peaked out for almost exactly the length of The Shins' set on the main stage, and we all sat there a bit far back from the stage, drinking our drinks and just having the best time. I'm not even a big fan of The Shins; this is the only album of theirs I own, and I wouldn't even consider it a favourite. But for that hour, in the sun with those friends and those cocktails, their music was the greatest thing ever. I count it as one of the best sets I ever saw at a Reading/Leeds Festival, and there is some steep competition in that list.
The order of events is as follows: in 2002 I bought a cheap Sub Pop sampler that had The Shins' legendary New Slang on it (although, I was much more into the song by the Murder City Devils). In 2005 I bought Give Up by The Postal Service and heard The Shins cover of We Will Become Silhouettes (although I was much more into Iron & Wine's cover of Such Great Heights). At some point after that, I saw Garden State and wondered why Natalie Portman played him New Slang when she should have played him Such Great Heights. In 2007 we watched The Shins at Leeds and I had the blissed-out hazy summer moment the band were designed for. In January 2008 I bought this album in Spillers as part of my Tuesday-record-from-Spillers year. In 2011 I moved to Kingston and Banquet Records made sure New Slang had a new meaning yet again (although I was much more into their New Noise nights).
There's a common theme above of The Shins taking a backseat to something else that grabbed me more at the time. Maybe I've never really let them have a moment to shine (other than for an hour at Leeds). The music they play is really nice, but the 60's feeling it invokes just isn't a winner for me. Between this album and The Olivia Tremor Control I have my fix of 60's-sounding bands (and, I rarely get more than halfway through Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One in any one sitting). I don't think anyone could really object to The Shins, but New Slang aside (and maybe Caring is Creepy) it's hard to find any really exciting moments (oh, maybe The Past and Pending too - that's three, not bad). I would say I should maybe check out their other albums at some point, but this is the only one I've ever heard people rave about, so my chances of getting much more from the others is slim.
But - and this is an important "but" - every time I scroll past this album on my iPod, or run my finger past it on the shelf I think of that afternoon at Leeds and how perfect everything felt. I almost never stop and play the album because just seeing it reminds me of the warm sun and alcohol buzz and I have more fun than I probably would from actually playing it.
Format: 12", insert
Tracks: 11
Cost: £8 new
Bought: Spillers Records, Cardiff
When: 31/01/08
Colour: Black
Etching: none
mp3s: none
