Invert Your World Back to the Main Shins Page Now!!!! Oh, In Flirted Spur Overall Album Score: 8.7 out of 10 The world today needs more bands like The Shins! Their music is pleasant, quiet and reserved, PLUS they have a danged good sense of melody, arranging and taste. In fact, there is not ONE bad song on here! Now that's real talent by modern standards! The history of this group actually starts in 1992 in New Mexico, an entire nine years previous to this album's release. The band's principle members, James Mercer (songwriter, guitar, vocals), Marty Crandall (keyboard), Neil Langford (bass), and Jesse Sandoval (drums) were previously in a band called Flake. But then sometime in 1997, they started a side project: "The Shins." Under this name, they were allowed to cut this album. It seemed to do fairly well! Well enough, in fact, that they grew a somewhat sizable fan base and were even allowed to cut a second album, released in 2003. (And a lopsided world tour!) This album is definitely retro. (Such is seemingly a commonality when we're talking about "tasteful" music of today ... except, of course, for those in The Flaming Lips camp.) Take one part psychedelic rock, one-half part Peter Paul and Mary, another half-part Beatles ... allow them to record using modern production values and voila! You've got Oh, Inverted World. (Needless to say, the album is slightly weird ... "psychedelic rock" is weird by definition! But remember that psychedelic probably won't strike one as particularly weird 35 years after-the-fact.) I hope this band grows BIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG! (And I hope you listen to their music, my crony.) Overall Album Score: 8.7 out of 10 (This is a very high score ... especially for an up-and-coming band that I haven't traditionally been giving such high scores to. If you are a modern rock fan and you haven't listened to this, then you are really missing something great. Per-i-od) Average Song Score: 8.7 (This is a strong, consistent collection of tunes! There is not one song on here that even pretends to stink! However, I couldn't quite convince myself that any of these songs deserved a full 10, either.) Album Tilt: 9.0 (This is extremely listenable and extremely enjoyable. It's so listenable, in fact, that you'll probably want to listen to it again ... and again ... and again ... and ...) Artist Rating: 8.5 (Mmmmm... It's a retro album, isn't it? The artistic quality of the actual album doesn't impress me too much, but I am impressed with the artistic integrity of this band. Not once on this album do they show any sign of mediocrity.) Track Reviews Caring is Creepy 9/10 Right away, The Shins deliver a strong song. The hooks are THERE (albeit not remarkably hookful) and the psychedelic rock connection is THERE. Nice use of synthesizers! The quiet and mesmerizing, almost tribal drums were also an excellent addition. Overall, this is a most-enjoyable tune. One By One All Day 8.5/10 This is definitely not one of the album's strongest moments, yet it's still perfectly listenable. It's rather similar to the last one, except the drums are louder. The synths are a little bit of lesser quality here, but there's not really much to complain about. The end sort of turns into an almost celestial jam, which sounds neat. Weird Divide 8/10 Okay ... this is precisely where I'm getting the whole Peter Paul and Mary connection. It sounds very folky, yet it has this wonderful atmosphere that'll leave all three of those dorks envious. This one's short, tuneful, and tasteful. (The melody isn't the best, but it certainly passes.) Know Your Onion! 9.5/10 Know my onion?!?!? Okay... This is one of the album's strongest moments (though not by far!) and it perfectly illustrates the band's well-refined melodic talents. In fact, this one probably would sound more like a regular 60's pop song if everything didn't sound so insanely disjointed. (And that THICK atmosphere!) It's explosive, and very enjoyable! Girl Inform Me 9/10 These guys'll never let up!!!! Wow! This is another thick-with-atmosphere, melodic acid-rockish song. It's nice and explosive, and it's tremendously listenable. Gold! New Slang 9/10 More Peter, Paul, and Mary folkish stuff. (It even has a tambourine in it!) Yikes! The song is as strong as anything in this album. It's enjoyable! The melody is good! Everything is good! Oh, I just makes me want to douse myself in vegetable oil and ... (Apparently, this song was used in a McDonald's commercial ... I don't remember seeing it. Oh well.) The Celibate Life 8/10 They're still going strong, but this number doesn't strike me as being quite as great. The melody, while it still has hooks of some sort, falters a little bit. The arranging seems confused ... but perhaps that was intentional. It's still entertaining. (And loud and cluttered!) Girl on a Wing 9.5/10 This one definitely sounds more poppy. That beeping synth going off in the foreground, however, single-handedly keeps it separated from sounding too closely to 60's rock. The melody here is very strong. The instrumentation is great, making this another enjoyable track! Great! I'm happy. That's all that matters in the end. Your Algebra 8/10 Weird title! (Not that "Know Your Onion!" wasn't also a weird title.) This is also kind of a weird song as well! (This also utilizes those Peter Paul and Mary harmonies.) Yet, it shares closer ties to that abstract psychedelia that I'm sure most of you oldies out there would rather just forget. Yet, this one was done in perfectly good taste. It's a bit self-indulgent, but at least they didn't make it 10-minutes long or any crap like that. It sits comfortably at under 2 and a half minutes. Pressed in a Book 8.5/10 Okay, we're back to the more normal songs. This is a harder, explosive track that ... wow ... doesn't sacrifice anything! These guys don't even get lazy and put in any FILLER! Man ... I'm impressed, as always. Real artists, these guys are. The Past and Pending 9/10 Even when they write a long song (this is over 5 minutes), it's a song that was good enough to play this long! It's quieter and more reserved. The melody isn't that great, but it's enjoyable. The arranging, however, is even better. A nice album closer, it'll make you come out of this album happy! (And you'll want to listen to it again.) I'm certain that this is one of the most listenable albums of the 00's decade. Are my tastes inverted? Leave your comments about my opinion and this album here!

All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He colors only with Crayola.