It seems like so much fewer than three years ago that Natalie Portman was convincing us that listening to the Shins would change our lives (let’s face it: no review of the Shins will ever again be written without mentioning Garden State, so it’s best to get it out of the way early). But while Portman was quirkily winning Zach Braff’s heart by hypnotizing him with cuts from their first major release, Oh, Inverted World, the Albuquerque natives were turning themselves into indie pop powerhouses with the growing popularity of Chutes Too Narrow. With the release of Wincing the Night Away, many fans expected the band to build on the sunny, melodic, unbelievably catchy tone of Chutes. What they got is an album that’s reminiscent of Oh, Inverted World and has some of the same mood of Chutes, but unlike any Shins material ever heard.

You can’t blame lead singer/songwriter James Mercer for wanting to put out a more mature album; after all, the silly vibe of Chutes Too Narrow landed them on the Spongebob Squarepants Movie soundtrack. He confronts his chronic insomnia, also referenced in the album title, in its opening track, “Sleeping Lessons.” The album’s first single, “Phantom Limb,” tells the tale of a pair of lesbian girls in a town that just doesn’t understand them; elsewhere, in “Turn on Me,” a girl resents a boy’s feelings toward her. Even though it isn’t the band’s strongest lyrically in some places, the metaphors are well wrapped in this third album.

As if feeling the need to break from the mold set for them by listeners, the band experiments with some new sounds on Wincing. “Sea Legs” laces its pop with hip-hop, creating an infectious backdrop to Mercer’s echoing, stratospheric harmonies. “Red Rabbits” follows it with a breezy free-form melody.

The band’s trademark (at least as far as I’m concerned) pop returns in “Turn on Me” and the lithe “Australia,” perhaps the most addictive song on the album, but it brings confusion to the proceedings. Where Oh, Inverted World was a decidedly low-key affair and Chutes Too Narrow was a manic romp, Wincing has no uniform sound to grasp onto. Each song, all the way down to the stunningly beautiful closer “A Comet Appears,” is worthy of the Shins, but it’s difficult to keep up with Mercer’s bait-and-switches. Perhaps that’s what he’s going for, though, to keep you on your toes as a metaphor to his insomnia. Whatever the case, it makes for a strong effort.

Rating: * * * * of 5

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