I hate to admit it but my first contact with the Shins was on the Abercrombie and Fitch website and they had a little music player with 2 songs I distinctly remember being on there, “New Slang” by the Shins and “Getting Into Sinking” by AM/FM. Both are great songs but I really hate to credit A&F for introducing them to me. Either way I must say that I like a lot of the Shins work but by far my favorite is Wincing the Night Away. I’m no indie snob and yes, I knew about them well before this album but my credit really goes to the composition and production on this one. Every song is molds perfectly in to the next and its lyrically really interesting without being too pretentious. It didn’t get nominated for a Grammy for nothing.

I would still recommend their earlier work as well, even though the recording isn’t as polished it’s charming in its own right. Both Chutes Too Narrow and Oh, Inverted World are great and to this day “New Slang” is one of my all time favorite songs.