The Shins - Port Of Morrow

Yes, the album that has been hanging in limbo for near on 5 years with Shins fanboys (me) and foaming pitchfork reviewers (the world) has finally come out, and seeing as I am still too overexcited by it, I've just broken down the review into two bits.

Good stuff:

• so many good songs, with the typical level of Shins wry/strange lyrics
• the singles they have released so far have been excellent
• the artwork is gnarly
• the songs don't go on too long and are engaging and full of whimsy
• a good mix of new Shins and old Shins combined to make some sort of super Shins
• the wait was well worth it, and the production is amazing
• better than 'Oh, Inverted world' (I'll fight you if you don't agree)
• so many catchy songs with a country western theme
• closing song is great as always (every Shins end album song has ruled: comet appears especially)

Bad stuff:

• the album has 2 duff tracks on it, and that's a shame because they aren't that bad compared to some others in the back catalogue (Pam berry and One and one all day I'm looking at you)
• James Mercer firing his band and delaying this for too long iamsadatyoujames.jpeg
• seems strangely paced (perhaps it's just me)
• the lack of crazy cosmic riffing (yet again it's just me, but Wincing The Night Away is my fav album)
• not being able to buy it on vinyl (damn these slow hands!)
• not instantly accessible (perhaps the singles would be a good idea for entry level Shins fans to get into this easier)

So there you have it, I've made the biggest heresy known to man and said that this is better than 'Oh, Inverted world' but seriously if you listen to this you'll see how they have just collected all their work and made some form of melded super album taking elements from each of their stages.

check out: Rifle spirals, Mark strausse 44, Simple song

tune in, listen loud and let James and his band of minstrels soothe you to sleep

8/10