Latest from The Shins doesn't disappoint

When you're someone who has a wide range of musical tastes such as I do, you tend to be very picky about what your favorite bands release after you've followed them for a long period of time. If you know The Shins, then you know that they'll give you nothing but the best. On their new album "Wincing the Night Away," they bring everything you would expect in a usual Shins record and more.

If you aren't familiar with The Shins, then you wouldn't know about the world they create with their mellow-toned music pulling you straight back to the '60s.

James Mercer, the band's lead vocalist, has said he wanted to channel the liquid sound from the great Morrissey. Even though this album was recorded in Mercer's basement, it still holds a unique sound that not many bands could pull off these days.

Although the sound is simple, as usual the lyrics are full of the complexities that most people wouldn't be able to pick up on at first listen. The album tells a story of love, pain and fairy tales - all you could ever want in a Shins album.

A detailed study of the album uncovers a variety of information. The track "Phantom Limb" was inspired by a slasher film called "Zombie Graveyard III," directed by Matthew Iraci, a longtime friend of Mercer.

I would personally have to say that my favorite song on the entire album would be "Turn On Me," for its rough and overbearing lyrics about how tough it is to like someone and not have the feelings returned. Somehow you know that everyone has experienced this feeling sometime in their life.

With the mixture of looking on the bright side and looking forward to things still to come, you find a sense of security in the music. All in all, The Shins took three years to record their third album and have delivered a basement-made hit. Even though they've had a small push of help from their friend Zach Braff with the film "Garden State," they've come a long way from the bottom pits of the indie music world.

The uproar not only attracted good media, but bad media as well. Braff's film deemed The Shins a band that would "change your life," a term that apparently new-agers don't take too lightly. The band has been around since before the film was created, thus already having a solid fan base, but an onslaught of cynics are now joining in to propose that the band has somehow sold out and have lost touch with listening to the world that only The Shins could create.

Only the true Shins fans stuck with the band through thick and thin, this album not being any different. The band has stuck to being as down to Earth and as goofy as ever. The only way you can really describe this Portland, Oregon band is via their true dedication to their music. As their Myspace profile quotes, "To play music for a long time, you have to surprise the people that love you-while also surprising yourself." With "Wincing The Night Away," The Shins have put out another masterpiece that everyone can enjoy on a daily basis.