it feels like years since a new shins record came out. time was, pre-chutes too narrow, that the prospect of another (and another and another) in the same vein as their debut would hit the spot -- i never wanted that band to change. oh, inverted world was an album i bought as pure candy but which ended up being a wholesome as portabella sandwich with fresh spinach on a kaiser roll. it was that good.

their follow-up soured that deal. i really really liked it, but it didn't feel like the work of a man possessed by song anymore. it felt like an collection of shins songs, not an album. it hasn't aged well, and i'm curious to see how it's aged for my friend arthur who proclaimed it better than inverted in his year-end round up.

that having been said, here's the shins doing a magnetic fields cover from an in-studio radio performance. i like it! i still like the shins, you know. but have you heard the nature bears a vacuum ep? it's gold.

the shins - strange powers