Oh, Inverted World
Sub Pop
2001
Rating: 8.5 jewelry network hosts out of 10
The Shins have put out one of the best records I have heard all year. Most certainly the best pop record to come out in some time. That might seem like a bold statement, but I am yet to be told otherwise by anyone I’ve played this for since I got it, and I’ve played it for a lot of people. It sounds like the Beach Boys crossed with the psychedelic pop of the Elephant Six, only better. OK, maybe not better than the Beach Boys, but you get what I’m saying. The production value is immaculate – giving it the feel that it might have been recorded 30 or 40 years ago, as opposed to last year. According to their website, The Shins have been releasing music for a while now – as Somersault, Flake, and Flake Music – but this is the debut for them as The Shins. These songs yearn for a summer road trip – the oppressive heat, windows down, driving somewhere and maybe nowhere, turning the volume up so you can hear it over the wind that’s making a mess of your hair. Highlights of the album include "One by One All Day," "Know Your Onion," "Pressed in a Book," and...well, all of them. My very favorite, though, is "New Slang" – a beautiful, haunting song that gets stuck in your head for days on end. The only drawback of the album is that it’s not long enough, clocking in at less than 40 minutes.
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