This week, indie rock staple The Shins (read: James Mercer and four random people) released their first studio album since 2007. But while the verdict is still out on the new album, Port of Morrow, there is a definite verdict on The Shins’ first album ever, specifically the first single off their first album “New Slang.”
The song is arguably as big a cornerstone of indie music as Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea (more on that in the coming weeks). But don’t take my word for it, Natalie Portman agrees. If, as it was for me, Garden State was your first introduction to The Shins and by extension, the world of indie music, the song definitely changed your life.
