Customer Reviews

Bluegrass Tribute to the Shins

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm amazed at how well the music of The Shins translates to bluegrass. All of the songs feel very alive whether the tempo is slow or fast. The way Iron Horse adapts the songs, you'd think they were written for bluegrass. One of the most interesting things about these covers is the way James Mercer's poetic lyrics really pop here. In this medium, the words are all loud and clear and the wonderful turns of phrase are shown off. The playing is energetic and entirely respectful of the original music. This isn't the campy tribute it might seem. The music is given its due with a reimagining that's worth the effort. Covers often can be too irreverent or too beholden to the original. This effort finds the right mix between enjoying the original music and finding something new to do with it. I certainly urge fellow fans of The Shins to give this a try, but I suspect others may like it as well. I first became aware of Iron Horse due to their covers of Metallica and Modest Mouse, two acts I don't have much interest in. I loved it when done by Iron Horse, though. They are a great band who deserves more recognition for this recording. These are great artists doing really interesting work. Its a great, fun album that was entirely worth my time. I just hope they do an extended version some day, as some of their earlier efforts have gotten.

but I am in love with this album. New Slang is one of the best songs ever written, and throw in a banjo solo?? I can't get enough.

I'm a big fan of bluegrass and the Shins. I happened upon this album from an unlimited music subscription, and had to take a listen.

I found this album a refreshing and fun retake on some of the Shin's work. The musicianship is excellent, and the instrumental arrangement is also great. The vocals are overproduced and over-corrected (almost robotic sounding), but you can actually make out some of the lyrics.

So don't throw away your Shins albums, but this one is worth the time.

I love the Shins. I mean, I REALLY love the Shins. And as a fiddle player, I really love bluegrass. Since this recording is from Sub Pop (the Shins' label), I guess I had high expectations of this recording. I can honestly say I haven't been so let down by a recording in a very long time. Small wonder that Sub Pop already lists this recording as "unavailable" after only 7 months since its release.

Being an optimist, the one good thing about the recording is that you can hear James Mercer's lyrics enunciated well (something that sometimes gets buried in Shins recordings). But like I said, that's the one good thing about this recording.

Everything else about this album is a complete disappointment and should be an embarrassment to the Shins, leaving me very glad that this album was released before the Shins' Wincing the Night Away so that these musicians couldn't maim those songs, too. What you have here is a group of excellent studio musicians. Sure they can play the licks, but the singing is lifeless and bland. It's as if a great banjo player and friends wanted to show off their technique with some rapid playing and tricky chord changes. Even worse, the arrangements put harmonies where there were none and leave out essential harmonies that were originally intended. Saint Simon was like listening to a nightmare on acid, and even the Shins one country-esque song, Gone For Good, could not be translated well in this format.

The saddest part is that I paid for this recording. Save your money and stick with the real thing...The Shins!

I have really enjoyed the shins for the few years that I've listened to their style and intriguing lyrics and melodies. I would place the music genre somewhere between independent/alternative rock/folk/sub-pop. Chutes to Narrow is my favorite album so far. This bluegrass cover is a excellent mix of their greatest hits, performed by several artists. You'll find songs from the chutes to narrow album, but others are thrown in as well. The songs were performed flawlessly in pure bluegrass form. I was impressed and recommend this album to anyone exploring bluegrass and interested in talented lyrics...or if you are a pop rock fan willing to let the old bluegrass sound in, give it a whirl. Thank You !!

I go to a bluegrass fest every year. I own several guitars and a mando. Admittedly my tastes lean toward newgrass more than traditional bluegrass, but most of all, I love the Shins, and just listening to the samples online runs a shiver down my spine. It's like they somehow figured out how to suck all the life out of Mercer's superb music by reproducing them all with the same lifeless rolling mando picking patterns and bland country throat singing. Listening to this is like catching your grandparents smoking pot, or watching a porn movie featuring Andy Griffith--there's no wit, no bite, no irony left. I'm just glad I didn't hear this first, because I would have assumed the Shins stunk! I'm still giving it two stars just for effort, but I'm not going to buy it, and I can't imagine why any actual Shins fans would want to either.
Saying all this, I still believe that good covers of Shins songs could be produced, maybe even within the confines of bluegrass styling. But this sure doesn't sound like it.

OK, so I don't listen to bluegrass all the time. Plus, it isn't so easy to hear it played much up here in NJ.
This thing hit me from out of nowhere.. but WHAM! I haven't heard stuff this good since "Old and in the Way". Terrific banjo picking, sweet harmonies, really good stuff. And, as someone says below the Shins music transitions amazingly well into bluegrass format. That says something for, and is a tribute in itself to the Shins music.
At the moment, I can hear this collection on Rhapsody. But, I felt compelled to buy it. I need to know who these folks are and I want to have this CD around for keeps. It's right up there with "Old and in the Way" when it comes to instrumentation. Plus the vocals are the sweetest I've heard since "Symphonian Dream".
Oh, by the way, I couldn't help noticing that my "Old and in the Way" CD is worth about fifty bucks. Sorry, I wouldn't sell it for a hundred.
And it wouldn't surprise me if this CD turns out to be another good investment. Go for it.

obviously if you like the shins and a little bluegrass here and there, this is the album for you.