The Shins
Album: Port Of Morrow
Label: Columbia
Tracks: 10
Website: http://www.theshins.com

Much has been made of main Shin James Mercer ditching the band with whom he made 2007's almost-breakthrough Wincing the Night Away, so is this The Shins? I'm not sure it makes any difference as it seems The Shins has always been, first and foremost, a name for Mercer's songs. In other words it was never a band in which the membership was crucial to the sound - other than Mr Mercer of course.

Indie dogma aside, the album is noteworthy as its bright sound and crafted hooks seem to suggest Mercer's dalliance with pop maestro Brian Burton, aka Dangermouse, on the excellent Broken Bells project has left its mark and rather than perpetually mine the critical backwaters of Portland Oregon indie cool Mercer now wants The Shins to be properly popular.

The fourth Shins album then is produced by Greg Kurstin who sure loves a shiny radio hit - witness his work with Lily Allen, Britney, Beck, Chili Peppers, Foster the People etc - and is well suited to Mercer's newest mission. Not only does he push the sound in shiny new directions, as on the horn-laced Fall of '82 which nods loosely to Costello and Donald Fagen, but Kurstin also reinvigorates the classic Shins blend of jangly indie-folk with the psyche-tinged Bait & Switch and the slightly darker opening cut, The Rifle's Spiral.

The title track finds Mercer pushing his voice into Thom Yorke territory that doesn't quite sound comfortable (which is probably the point, but why?). Far more successful is For A Fool's literary self-criticism and It's Only Life which sounds straightforward but is anything but. In fact, Port of Morrow should take The Shins out of the indie bedsit and is Mercer's worthy bid for a place on a kind of Mount Olympus of contemporary adult pop-rock songwriters.

Nick Churchill
www.thegranvillechambers.co.uk