10. The Shins - Heartworms

Super awesome cover. On par with of Montreal's best. The mix of nightmare
and bubblegum cartoons reflects the music, too.

The Shins was never a band that was on my radar. They've been around since the early 2000's, releasing fairly popular indie rock, and I may or may not have heard some of their songs. I don't know what made me take note of their new single "Dead alive" released late last year, but it ended up on my playlists and I grew fond of its bittersweet bubbliness and catchy marching-beat refrain. When I saw that the new album was out, I put on the first song with quite moderate expectations, but it blew me out of the park. From its intro of jangly guitar, cowbell and du-du-duuh to its final bright major chord, "Name for you" is overwhelmingly entertaining, stuffed full of giddy ideas, constantly grabbing my attention with a new hook every second. I've played it over and over and over, and I still absolutely love it.

Only lead singer and songwriter James Mercer remains of The Shins' original lineup. There are other newer members listed, but I think they're more touring musicians than anything else. So, on Heartworms James Mercer offers his very own charming, leftfield pop vision in kind of the same way that Grimes did on Art Angels, or Kevin's barnes did on false Priest. Those are two of the albums that first spring to mind when I play Heartworms, and they're all filled with unabashed falsetto fun, layers upon layers of elements of the kind that bandmates or executive producers might gently suggest are getting to be a bit much. It's interesting because of how unique and still how catchy it is. The dark soundscapes but convincing hooks on "Painting a hole" make it feel like it's soundtracking a surreal and action-packed dream, one where you're discovering a technicolor world full of confusing scenes and weird creatures. "Cherry hearts" also immediately transports me to a fantastic, otherworldly place, although I'm not super excited about the chorus the tenth time I hear it. "Fantasy island", however, is totally loveable, probably my second favorite song on the album and one that never fails to make me smile. Mercer's wonderful vocal performance (you may also have heard him sing as half of the duo Broken Bells) lifts this and many of the other songs on here to that one extra level.

So you were curious about what the singer from this album was doing these days? He's releasing
his own music as The Shins, and it's way less sterile and stylish than this glossy thing. It's way more fun.

The record's few breathers are much needed and also work well. When listening to the almost bubble-gum pop of the title track, "So now what" and the other songs mentioned above, it's easy to forget that Heartworms is the work of a 46 year old indie rock lifer. But when the refreshingly synth-free "Mildenhall" lilts along over a familiar Americana groove we're brought back to the live stage, and I love the beautiful closing track "The fear", which goes slightly experimental with psychedelic downtempo jams and baroque strings. The only songs I don't care much for are the ones that fall between the two chairs. "Rubber ballz" has quite nice, sombering lyrics and a neat drive to its verses and chorus, but they don't balance well at all with the intense bass/vocal riff that keeps popping up. I'm also a bit ambivalent about the unexpected emo-rock revival of "Half a million", and it doesn't quite commit fully to the sk8er pastiche (perhaps a good thing), so this one also falls a bit short.

Despite these two tracks back to back, the record totally gets away with it thanks to the closing four song streak being even more awesome than the opening. Heartworms makes me dance like noone's watching, makes me smile on the gloomiest of days, listening to other pop music on the radio lately has had me wishing I was listening to Heartworms.

Hear: "Name for you", "Fantasy island", "Heartworms"