Since we just told you about The Shins parting ways with their long time record label Sub Pop… possibly forever, we deemed it only necessary to bring you back to the fresh young days of The Shins’ success when Oh, Inverted World was just a newly released record from a few New Mexico-born Indie-rock hopefuls, and “New Slang” was just some song Natalie Portman made Zach Braff listen to in that movie Garden State.
James Mercer started the Shins as a side-project while he was working with Flake Music. Flake dissembled, and Mercer began putting greater focus on The Shins, taking influences from the likes of The Smiths and The Cure and integrating their stylings into his song writing. The end product of Mercer’s skilled songwriting chops mixed with the talent of the rest of the band’s members led to the creation of The Shins’ trademark sound, which eventually got the band signed on to Sub Pop records in 2001.
The Shins released their first album, Oh, Inverted World, off of Sub Pop in 2001. The album was critically acclaimed upon release, but took some time to catch up to the success of what it is now known for. It wasn’t until three years later, in 2004, that The Shins began gaining exposure when the now-cult-classic film Garden State used their music on the soundtrack. The film marketed The Shins to a wider audience, causing the band to gain prominence; inevitably giving The Shins the momentum they needed to be considered the indie rock veterans we see them them now.
We’re not sure why the Shins would want to separate themselves from Sub Pop, but what we do know is that the pair have put out some signature records in the past eight years, and we’ll be curious to see if the band will be able to produce another classic like “New Slang” on this writing hiatus of theirs. For now, the video will just have to do.
The Shins – “New Slang”
