OH, INVERTED WORLD [Vinyl]

As somebody else wrote, this has been done a lot of times before. It is extremely derivative 60's influenced guitar pop that is not that great but also not that bad. Actually quite faceless and bland.

While this album was released in 2001, it still remains one of the best albums this millennium. The Shins have since released a couple more spectacular efforts, but neither of them have eclipsed "Oh, Inverted World". The opening track "Caring Is Creepy" sets the stage for a very surreal experience. Sweeping keyboards and smooth guitars give this album a very peaceful listening experience and is best enjoyed with a nice pair of headphones and closed eyes. "The Past and Pending" is the ending track and serves perfectly to slow everything back down and give the album a graceful exit. Don't worry, though; the album does pick up in the middle with the energetic "Know Your Onion" and "Girl Inform Me", a couple of very catchy rock tunes. This album puts me in a good mood every time I listen to it, and if you're a fan of pop/rock with a lot of acoustics then I'm sure you will feel the same.

(Actually **1/2, but Amazon doesn't allow half stars.)

This is pleasant, melodic and fairly intelligent indie pop rock that does nothing that hasn't been before but does it rather well. Standout track "Know Your Onion!" is a catchy, jaunty ditty about adolescent alienation and includes a lyric about finding one's favorite record "lying in wait at the Birmingham mall." Since these guys are American, from New Mexico, that's a little silly, and it's even more so to reflect that the slowly strummed and murmured "Weird Divide" could just as easily have been titled "We Like Syd Barrett." This is pretty good pop though, offering annoying and endearing prettiness in about equal measure.

Song by song:

1 Caring Is Creepy ***
2 One by One All Day **
3 Weird Divide ***
4 Know Your Onion! ***
5 Girl Inform Me **
6 New Slang **
7 The Celibate Life ***
8 Girl on the Wing ***
9 Your Algebra **
10 Pressed in a Book **
11 The Past and Pending *

This is a really good cd. I was a bit nervous as I first came across The Shins in the movie Garden State. I loved the two songs that they had on there and was glad to hear they were both on this cd, though I was a bit nervous that the rest of the cd might not have been as good. However, this cd doesn't fail to disappoint. Among these great songs are; Caring is Creepy, Girl Inform Me, Know your Onion!, New Slang, One By One Day by Day, and Pressed In A Book. The others are good too.

The Shins "Oh, Inverted World" is a whopping debut of great tunes tinged with a subtle ingredient of the south, particularly in "One By One All Day". "Caring is Creepy", "Know Your Onion", "Girl Inform Me", "New Slang", and "The Past and the Pending" are just the highlights of this rollicking-good album. It is simply produced with catchy tunes that will stay with you for a good time.