Not reinventing the wheel, 3 good tunes but so much dross, and I have literally no idea what they did to Americans of a certain age. Feel like thereās a good lyricist somewhere in there though, will never find out. Generous 3.
I have also seen that particular band while lying down at a festival (Leeds 07)
4 because I still listen to Chutes Too Narrow fairly regularly and always have a nice time
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Generous 4, a very time and place band. The first two are excellent, was briefly very into Port of Morrow too but it hasnāt stood the test of time. Saw them at the Forum on that tour (possibly the worst sounding gig Iāve ever been to) and it was still good but it definitely felt like their moment had come and gone. Didnāt know theyād released another album since then.
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Lol, no i would have been jumping up and down with excitement to start with. Then getting gradually more still.
I remember hearing James Mercerās backing vocals all over Modest Mouseās We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank album and thinking āwow this guy has a great voice, I love it, I must check out The Shinsā. Then when I did check out The Shins I found them a bit boring.
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There used to be a version of New Slang on youtube where the video was clips from āThe Troublesā, and it was very heartbreaking and very emotive.
Seems to be gone now sadly.
Iām going to repeat pretty much what everyone else has said, first two albums are great, WTNA is pretty good, Port of Morrow was dull and Iāve not heard anything after that. Gone for a generous 4.
Try the debut again x
Same as most above, first two albums were great. Didnāt particularly care for wincing or anything after. First broken bells album is brilliant.
Saw them on a joint headline tour with The Stills and despite being a much bigger fan of the shins, i found them a bit dull and the stills were a lot better than them.
Generous 4, i reckon.
Anyone mentioned the first 3 albums yet? Theyāre all very good and itās a 4/5 from me.
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Wincing The Night Away and Port Of Morrow are both real good imo.
Heartworms and The Worms Heart are good/okay.
Very spicy take is that I really enjoyed the first two albums and a lot of the third. Port of Morrow starts out strong (Rifleās Spiral and Simple Song are both great)m but quickly tails off. Never properly engaged with anything after that.
I feel like thereās maybe a lack of breadth or something to Jamesā songwriting that was always going to lead to diminishing returns. I reckon he would benefit from working with some people who would push him out his musical comfort zone.
Reckon the Broken Bells album was very good.
Edit: didnt realise theyd done a 2nd one, will check that out.
The second oneās a grower.
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Chutes Too Narrow all the way for me thanks, wonderful album. They get marked down for having a bunch of albums that arenāt as good though, so 3/5. Whereas this very week I didnāt mark The Blue Nile down for basically the same crime of their first two albums being their best work. Themās the vagaries.
Really think the la la la dum de dum bit and all the harmonies in the last minute or so of Saint Simon is one of the, for want of a better word, loveliest bits of music ever committed to tape.
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Always find it interesting how some songs, even if theyāre very minimal and use traditional instrumentation thatās been used a million times before, can still sound quite fresh and new. Like itās hard to imagine New Slang being released before the 00s and itās also hard to say why that is. Maybe itās the oooh oohing bits in the background.
This is the point at which someone informs me itās actually a cover of a sixties hit.
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Very nice, very inoffensiveā¦ Yeah thatās all Iāve got.
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I found a copy of Port Of Morrow in a local chazza. Itās ok.
A 3? Probably a 2, since it did not, in fact, change my life.
the closer from Wincing is so great. Serene and sad with a smidgen of hope trying to get through
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Thought theyād be right up my street and it surprised me that they werenāt really. The songs bounced straight off and left no mark. Found much the same with Broken Bells too, couple of tracks I like on that first album. Iāll give them a 3, I do really like Australia.