Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XLIII--The Shins: Sleeping Lessons

Sometime in the spring of 2007, we set out on a family outing, and as we left I grabbed my copy of  Wincing the Night Away by The Shins which had been recommended by my oldest son (nailed it!) and which I really hadn't had a chance to listen to in full.  We had about an hour drive and I figured it would be a good chance to familiarize myself with the CD.  Possibly because we were driving somewhere for the first time and I had to pay attention to the road, the album didn't make much of an impression on the way there.  On the way home though, with the Beautiful Girl enjoying a book and the Beautiful Boy fast asleep, "Sleeping Lessons" came on and after listening I thought to myself, "What the hell was that?"  And I listened to it again.  And again.  And again.  That night when I went to bed, I literally couldn't wait until morning so I could hear it yet again.

Recurring theme:  Such is the power of music,

The Shins formed in 1996, and are basically the brainchild of James Mercer, the lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter extraordinaire.  Buoyed by the featuring of  "New Slang" (another great Shins' song) in the movie Garden State (never saw it), the band developed a strong following and more importantly strong indie rock cred.  The Shins have had a a relatively small output--four albums in 19 years--and a couple of different lineups but nevertheless have had a penchant for diverse music.  Mercer has described the band as a "pop project" (bonus points!) and it shows--I've often thought they shared a great amount of musical style with a myriad of '60s pop bands.

"Sleeping Lessons" starts out...well, sleepily.  It's a contemplative synthesizer overlaid with plaintive vocals from Mercer, but you can feel that the song is percolating, that something vibrant is coming.  Truthfully, if the song had continued as such, it would have been a pretty decent little ditty, but at just a little past the two minute mark you're given a brief warning with a snippet of acoustic guitar picking before the song literally EXPLODES! with crashing drums and steam engine power chords from the electric guitars.  Mercer's vocals gain an urgency and edginess that weren't on display before and the explosive music doesn't stop, keeps its I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can bravado and even at the fade out you feel like the song is going to--thankfully!--go on forever.  "Sleeping Lessons" is one of those songs that make me realize why I never got into drugs:  when I wanted to get high, I always had rock and roll.  And "Sleeping Lessons" is an incredible high.

And what's not to love about a song that tells you "...You're not obliged/To swallow anything you despise...."

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee