Ask any indie kid for their top 10 favorite bands and the Shins will most certainly be listed. The four-piece pop band from New Mexico virtually have taken over the indie-rock scene since critics praised 2001’s “Oh, Inverted World” and their 2003 follow-up, “Chutes Too Narrow.”
Though the Shins have been making music since 1997, it seems like they recently developed a knack for being in the right place at the right time — more specifically, caught in the middle of “The O.C.”-charged indie-mainstream explosion. With the racy teen drama telling pop culture-crazy viewers what is “cool” and what is “redonkulous,” and life-changing claims from Natalie Portman’s character in 2004’s successful ultra-emo flick “Garden State,” everyone and their brother now is into the Shins. These fans, eager to see them on tour, have bought all the tickets to tonight’s show at the Congress Theater, 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave.
But don’t think this fazes James Mercer, lead singer of the group. Between the roll-of-the-eyes, “I was into them three years ago” response from indie kids, and the newbies’ claims of “I just heard this great new band off of the ‘Garden State’ soundtrack,” Mercer, full of boyish giggles and humble “I don’t knows,” takes the peaceful middle ground.
“If there’s people who like us who didn’t hear about us from the local record store, it doesn’t bother me that much,” Mercer says.
Mercer’s attitude seems to fit with the tone of his band’s music — smart, non-confrontational and achingly willing to please. Yet his hesitant answers and modest conclusions concerning the Shins’ success make him appear much less like the rock god created by indie-mania and more like your soft-spoken music-geek cousin. Add to the mix that both Shins albums were recorded in Mercer’s basement, and the rock star image fades and fades. But ultimately, it is the front man’s humble tone that proves he is simply a sweet guy who would rather be playing his music than talking about how the band feels about their recent mainstream success.
Mercer got into live music by stumbling upon musicians who embraced their feelings and sung with abandon.
“The Smiths were a big deal for me in high school, and for making me want to be in a band … (also) probably Echo and the Bunnymen,” Mercer says. “But the Smiths had some songs that made me feel like it was OK to be a total loser.”
Once Mercer had embraced his loserness over the phone, it was a little easier to talk about his other, somewhat predictable reason for wanting to be a rock musician — playing in a cover band.
“It was the first time I was in a band that I felt actually good about,” Mercer says of his Dinosaur Jr. cover band, called Blue Roof Dinner.
From that point on, it was participation in side projects that made the Shins accessible to a much larger audience than its first two releases had allowed.
Literally bred from Mercer’s former band, Flake, the singer said the Shins was a nice change of pace, allowing for more hands-on creativity.
“It was a collaborative effort,” Mercer says of Flake. “One of the things that happens in a situation like that is you compromise on things, and you get to do what you want a quarter of the time, and you don’t get to do what you want 75 percent of the time … so I decided I wanted to do a side project that was the Shins.”
After the band released two moderately successful albums, the Shins lent “Caring is Creepy” and “New Slang” from “Oh, Inverted World!” to the “Garden State” soundtrack, which shot to No. 20 in Billboard’s Top 200 Albums Chart and to No. 2 in Billboard’s Soundtrack Chart.
According to Mercer, accusations from hardcore fans of selling out don’t faze him, since the band was happy to contribute their material to the movie.
“We are stoked about things that informed people about us,” Mercer says. “It’s a good deal all around, it seems.”
But Mercer says he still isn’t convinced the Shins have had a part in propelling indie rock to the masses. Mercer attributes most of the cause of the indie explosion to the guys in suits.
“Like most pop phenomena, the people at the top of these record companies made conscious decisions that these bands would get a lot more support,” Mercer says. “They were feeling this was the next thing … plus maybe people are just ready to embrace something that’s good. The public has been looking for something new and something authentic and it’s out there.”
Mercer even had a hard time accepting the fact some people might deeply connect with the Shins’ music. Take for example the scene in “Garden State” when Natalie Portman”s character promises to a stranger that the Shins’ “New Slang” will “change your life.” Instead of embracing this awesome statement, Mercer somehow sees that scene as an odd coincidence.
“It sounded so strange,” Mercer says. “My personality takes something like that and gingerly sort of writes it off as some sort of fluke thing. It’s also that character in the movie, not any real person. I mean, it’s flattering that anybody, even in a fictional context, would say that.”
After experiencing a bit of this mainstream success, the Shins will begin recording its third album after this tour ends.
“This is one last thing before we buckle down and come up with a whole new record,” Mercer says. “Songwriting-wise, I don’t know, I seem to be coming up with a little bit more sort of atmospheric things once in a while, and maybe more like the first release pop feel.”
And according to Mercer, this album, like the Shins’ last two, will be recorded in his basement.
Thank you, cousin James.4
Medill freshman Kate Puhala is a PLAY writer. She can be reached at [email protected].