Song of the Week 4/22/05

The Shins - "So Says I"

I came WAY late to The Shins party. I, like many unhipsters, had never heard of them until Zack Braff's great little movie from last year, Garden State. That's not exactly true -- I had heard them on the film's soundtrack (which I got a promo copy of) long before I saw the movie. One Friday night last summer I was talking about movies and music with my friend Rhett, and he asked me if I had seen Garden State, because he thought it would be right up my alley. I told him I hadn't, but I did love the soundtrack. Then he started raving about The Shins, saying that their second album, Chutes Too Narrow, was even better than their first, Oh Inverted World, which supplied two songs to the Garden State soundtrack. So the next week he gave me a copy of Chutes and said I needed to listen to it. And damn if he wasn't right.

I forgot about the disc and the band until my fellow concert collaborator Moria sent out an email asking if anyone wanted to go see The Shins with her. Since I was going to get us Doves tickets, I figured it would be a good trade, and quickly agreed. So a few weeks ago I finally picked up Oh Inverted World, and loved it. And then I started listening to Chutes again, and the one song that always stuck in my head was "So Says I." There's a part where frontman James Mercer sings "Oooo whoooo ooooo" through a wall of distortion, and that little two seconds of the tune has been stuck in my head all week. I can't get enough of it. And tonight I look forward to seeing them for the first time -- and hopefully the crowd won't be filled with too many way-too-late-to-The-Shins-party-folks like me.

(Right clink the link at the top for a free MP3 of the song from Sub Pop. And if you like that, check out a great live version from Austin City Limits by right clicking here.)