The Shins Should Be Wincing No More

Nothing underlines geek chic like an album titled Wincing The Night Away. The Shins' new LP gives you the impression that they're cowering in a corner while the hours between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. wile away. But the New Mexican foursome are definitely standing tall since the January release of the record. It debuted at #2 on the American album sales charts and established what most already knew: The Shins are really fucking famous these days.

Despite this, frontman James Mercer still comes across as the same slightly neurotic, quiet individual he's always been. When asked why the record took so long to get out after Chutes Too Narrow, he sheepishly explains that he just couldn't keep deadlines, and perfectionism got in the way. When queried whether he's sick about talking about the band's high watermark, the ubiquitous "New Slang" cameo in Garden State, he laughs off the notion entirely.

"We get asked about a lot of things over and over again," he says, affable as ever.

The group, according to Mercer, have no desire to distance themselves from their most commercial moment. It's something they're thankful for more than anything, and they're just happy it didn't end up biting them in the ass. But a lot of that was the band's own planning, or perhaps lack thereof, when it came to the recording of Wincing The Night Away.

"The only thought I ever had about that sort of thing was just that I think there was a bit of a concern that we would go over the Malcolm Gladwell 'tipping point'" he says. "And so I guess I wasn't worried over taking a little extra time [on the album]. I think, hey, if people who aren't really that big a fan of ours who are into it only because Natalie Portman said they ought to be, then if we lose some of those kids I'm not going to be too worried about that."

But judging by their recent string of sold out tour dates and best-ever record sales, it's unlikely they've lost much ground in their time off, if any. Wincing The Night Away was supposed to come out in the summer of 2006, but the record turned into the group's most ambitious project to date, which meant it kept getting pushed back. When it was finished, they had a collection of songs that were unmistakably the work of The Shins, but that were more adventurous than those on Chutes or Oh, Inverted World.

"I wanted to have a little bit more elaborate production for this record, which we did accomplish, and I wanted to spend more time on it," Mercer explains. "I wanted to have things be a little more intricate and orchestrated. So, you know, all that requires time and thought and creativity. I wanted to have a richer sounding record. "I'm really happy with what we've got."

As far as Mercer's concerned, the wait for record number four won't be nearly as long (presuming an even bigger movie doesn't want to feature "Saint Simon" or "Phantom Limb" at it's apex).

"I hope to hell not," he says. "I think I've just gotta be real careful. I mean the Garden State thing was a big factor in the time thing. But you know, I don't think something like that will be happening again. So I think that we will tour for a good, hard working year and then take time to make another record. So it should be a year-and-a-half or two years for the next one."

Speaking of touring, the group will be at Montreal's Metropolis on Friday night and Toronto's Kool Haus on Saturday. It's at the shows where you can really hear just how strong Mercer's voice is, but he's barely the focus when it comes to the non-musical portion of the evening. Multi-instrumentalist Marty Crandall is the one who takes over the mic in between songs, providing comic relief during their oddly lengthy breaks. Not that Mercer, who can also be heard on Modest Mouse's new We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank LP, really has a say in how that plays out.

"I think it happens because Marty wants it to happen, really," he says, chuckling. "I mean Marty is that exact same character when you're sitting in a living room with four other people. He is always on. He is always running around, jumping around, doing back flips and all that shit. So I think that it's just where Marty's head is at."

The group will be on the festival circuit this summer, so if you miss them this weekend, rest assured they may make it back for one of the late summer events on this side of the border.