Not All The Influences Have To Be So Obvious

Reading the reviews this weekend of the new Kaiser Chiefs album one group are mentioned over and over again: Madness. It seems that whilst The Ordinary Boys have inherited the fashion style of the Nutty Boys, the group from Leeds have taken the Magnificent Seven's sense of fun, recognition of a good tune and invective lyricism and called it their own.

As is often the case we in England are looking the wrong way in our constant search for the next big thing. The past two months have seen the release of two albums from North America that deserve more attention and airplay than the 'difficult' second album from Yorkshire's finest.

First up in January was The Shins fourth album 'Wincing The Night Away.' If you have even the smallest passing interest in popular culture you would have heard the music of the group originally from Albuquerque who are now based in Portland, Oregon. Anyway, the album entered the U.S Charts at Number Two, it also went straight into the Top Ten in Canada. The group are signed to the Seattle based Sub-Pop label which was the home of Nirvana, Soundgarden and Mudhoney back in the days of nineties grunge.

They have evolved from their New Mexico lo- fi roots into a fully fledged pop band and this heritage shows on some of their tracks where a similarity to Scottish band Belle & Sebastian is also evident - incidentally the two bands shared the stage at the world famous Hollywood Bowl last summer.

Whilst the Kaiser Chiefs will have you jumping up and down, either in delight or in sheer frustration, The Shins will have you smiling and nodding knowingly at the obvious and less obvious musical heritage that has been consumed and then forgotten only to return subliminally in some of the finest tunes you will hear this side of the old King's death. The obvious are The Beach Boys, R.E.M, The Kinks, Buzzcocks, the less obvious are Jeff Buckley, The Electric Prunes, Squeeze, Morrissey and a hint of late vintage Talking Ends.

But don't let that roll call put you off because The Shins produce something new and exciting out of that rich musical smorgasbord. The track Girl Sailor for example is simply an achingly beautiful 'love' song that will have you wishing you were in a movie whilst this is playing on the soundtrack as you walk through an evening cityscape in the pouring rain.

The gutter may profess its love,
Then follow it with hesitation,
But there are just so many of
You out there for rent

A stronger girl would shake this off in flight,
And never give it more than a frowning hour,
But you have let your heart decide,
Loss has conquered you,

You've won one too many fights,
Wearing many hats every time,
But you wont win here tonight,

You've made it through the direst of straits alright,
Can you help it if plain love now seems less interesting?
You haven't changed an ounce in my eyes,
And I cannot lecture you,

And does anything I say seem relevant at all?
You've been at the helm since you were just five,
While I cannot claim to be more than a passenger,

But, you've won one too many fights,
Wearing all of your clothes at the same time,
Let the good times end tonight,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,

Just a moment or two from now,
Not a mind will retain even a trace,
Of the thoughts that I struggled to tell
And how our stack of cards just fell,

So settle this once and for all,
The light no longer shows the cracks around my door,
And I have no lantern to light your way home tonight,

You are not some saint who's above,
Giving someone a stroll through the flowers,
You've got so much more to dream of,
Oh girl, sail her, don't sink her,
This time,
This time,
This time.

Very few albums can claim to have you resisting the urge to press the forward button on your CD remote but The Shins fourth album comes closer than most. There are no fillers and such a variety of songs on offer that you can sit back and relax.

As I wrote earlier the Shins music has featured in several films, television shows and even a recent television advert for Guinness. They first came to cinema goers attention when they were featured on the soundtrack of Garden State, two tracks from their first album 'Oh, Inverted World' - 'Caring Is Creepy" and "New Slang' This exposure was followed by the inclusion of two tracks from their third album Chutes Too Narrow—"Gone For Good" and "Those to Come"— in the 2004 film In Good Company. They have also featured on the soundtracks of Winter Passing and the seminal The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.

On T.V they have had tracks in the sitcom Scrubs, an episode of Buffy The Vampire Slayer and an episode of The Sopranos.

They are touring the U.K this month and in March, catch them if they are near you.

On Friday it's the new album from Arcade Fire.