The Shins Songs Ranked

The Shins are an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1996. Its current lineup is James Mercer (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, songwriter), Jon Sortland (drums), Mark Watrous (guitar, keyboards), Casey Foubert (guitar), Yuuki Matthews (bass, keyboards), and Patti King (keyboards). They are based in Portland, Oregon. Following this, the Shins signed to Columbia Records and Mercer parted ways with the entire original lineup, deeming it “an aesthetic decision.” Following a nearly five-year hiatus, Port of Morrow, the band’s fourth studio album, was released in 2012. Their fifth album, Heartworms, was released in March 2017. Here are all of The Shins songs ranked.

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10. Simple Song (Port of Morrow, 2012)

“One of the warmest pop songs I’ve heard in recent memory. At first listen, this seems pretty ordinary, and exactly what you’d expect from The Shins. However, repeated listens show an incredibly colorful and tuneful indie pop song. Wonderful pop melodies are everywhere here. The piano is a really nice touch in the arrangement. James Mercer’s vocals sound great as usual too. Production-wise, it’s vaguely reminiscent of Animal Collective’s poppier side, especially in the beginning. Great track.”

9. Sleeping Lessons (Wincing the Night Away, 2007

“I think it’s about an escape from self-imposed conformity. We spend so much of our lives denying our true natures and desires in an attempt to fit our designated roles in society. But deep down, we all want to not only be something different, but many different things at different times.”

8. New Slang (Oh, Inverted World, 2001)

“This is my most played song on Apple Music for a reason. The lyrics are enigmatic and startling in their potency. The guitar chords repeated throughout the track are simple on the surface, but create a nuanced emotional prospective. It’s the perfect length at just under four minutes. Vocals perfectly hover above the acoustic instrumentation. And most importantly, it’s catchy as hell. It resonated deeply with me when I first heard it, and has only grown on me. “

7. Caring Is Creepy (Oh, Inverted World, 2001)

“In my opinion, this song’s about just feeling disconnected from other people, finally understand that you feel numb, then wondering how this came to be. But there is no way to know why you got that way, so it’s no use pondering. I think the song’s trying to say that you shouldn’t wonder about the things that make you feel down and numb. It doesn’t get you anywhere and it’s counter to what you’re trying to get rid of in your state of mind.”

See more: The Shins Albums Ranked

6. Saint Simon (Chutes Too Narrow, 2003)

“I think this is an open rejection of religion by The Shins. I feel like the “texts” might be referring to scripture, and maybe even the “nursery rhymes” have two meanings. The way the song shifts moods makes me feel like he’s saying that “Mercy” (or religion) can be very comforting and can make you feel warm, but he’d rather not give into that, so he has to step into the night (the dark) where answers aren’t so evident or picture perfect. Could be wrong, but that’s my take on it.”

5. A Comet Appears (Wincing the Night Away, 2007)

“The shins really should have some plan to make five albums at once, then take only the first and last of those five albums and distribute that album as the actual album…if you get my drift…they can call it “first and lasts.” In album history, these songs have always been by far their best. And I speak mostly of Chutes Too Narrow.”

4. The Past and Pending (Oh, Inverted World, 2001)

“The harmonica part is probably my favorite part of the song. I think the song is about breaking up with someone who you really loved, and who really loved you, and having that break-up hurt you and the other person so much that it nearly swears you off love forever. Obviously you could go a bit deeper than that, as with any Shins song, but that’s (part of) the reason why I love the Shins so much – their lyrics are so deep that they can be interpreted so many different ways by anyone.”

See more: The Best Albums of 2003

3. Kissing the Lipless (Chutes Too Narrow, 2003)

“I love this song! Personally to me I think it’s about a hard break-up, or possibly someone moving away. She has a new boyfriend by she’s still in love with him. And it just makes it harder for him “if it’s true what can done”. When I broke up with my ex girlfriend this is what the song meant to me. We still loved each other but there was nothing we could do, we had both moved on.”

2. Phantom Limb (Wincing the Night Away, 2007)

“The Shin’s greatest strength as a band has always been songwriting. They have well-written songs with plenty of melodic variation. Their most recent singles have much more polished production than their early records but the songwriting strength is still very much in evidence on a song like “Phantom Limb”.

1. Australia (Wincing the Night Away, 2007)

“Australia tends to be one of The Shins more upbeat songs, straying away from the slow, melancholy beat that they pull off so well. The lyrics are clever and silly to go along with it, making it an easy song to get into right off the bat, and was actually the song that got me into The Shins in the first place. It’s worth a listen, even if you don’t like The Shins too much, as it’s one of their “more unique” songs”