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The Shins @ Wolverhampton Wulfrun
Mar 28 2007 By Richard Jackson, Birmingham Mail
YOU wouldn't normally recommend crippling insomnia, but it seems to work for The Shins.
Songwriter James Mercer's sleepless nights inspired the US indie band's new album, Wincing The Night Away.
And, playing the small but sold-out Wulfrun, it sounds like they're now ready to make the leap from cult to mainstream success.
After spending a few hours in a local pub "drinking pints and listening to Black Sabbath", the band launched with the woozy Sleeping Lessons.
Australia and Phantom Limb followed, quirky pop songs that cram more ideas into three minutes than most guitar band albums do.
The slide guitar and Byrds-style harmonies were typically American, but they obviously like the Kinks and the Smiths too.
The band concentrated on their last two LPs. There was room, though, for a heart-tugging New Slang, an early single described as "life changing" by Natalie Portman's character in cult movie Garden State.
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