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THE SHINS (+ CAMERAN) Arriving early and pushing our way into an already packed top room at the Barfly, we are treated to an unexpected show of rock's more muscular side. Sounding like Rage Against The Machine crossed with Jane's Addiction and making a noise capable of filling the Grand Canyon, Cameran are mightily impressive. A sinewy, bearded frontman is flanked by a dynamic bassist and lead guitarist and they keep up the barrage for an excellent 40 minutes. Standout tracks are "FreeThem" and "A Million Years Now" Sometimes, I don't know what these visiting American bands look like. It's always a shock to realise that the 'roadies' you've been watching set up the equipment for the last 20 minutes are actually the band. I guess it's a budget thing, but aren't these guys "the stars"? The Shins are a relatively new phenomena on this side of the Atlantic. But this New Mexico quartet have been releasing records under various names (Flake, FlakeMusic) for over a decade. It's taken them ten years to arrive at this, a deal with SubPop (now two excellent albums old) and their first mini tour of the UK. Tonight is the second night, and you can see that all is going smoothly so far. Ten years perfecting the recipe has amounted to some of the most infectious, hook-laden 3 minute gems I've heard in a long time. New album, "Chutes Too Narrow" reminds me at times (in no particular order) of the Beach Boys, They Might Be Giants, Echo & The Bunnymen and obscure early 90's band Carnival Art. That record's chiming guitars, acoustic strumming, simple keyboard riffs and eloquent lyrics, delivered as vocal harmonys, are all present and correct tonight, giving the crowd exactly what they came to see. Frontman James Mercer is an intense figure - sort of looks like a skinny Kevin Spacey - and is possessed of a near note perfect voice. Concentrating on "getting it right" he leaves his more relaxed foil, keyboardist and guitarist Marty Crandall, to take on the between-song banter whilst bassist Dave Hernandez looks on, amused and somnambulant drummer Jessie Sandoval takes pictures and "chills". Highlights for me are "Kissing the lipless", "Saint Simon" and "Pink Bullets". There are other songs that I don't recognise, but which persuade me that I will definitely be tracking down their first album. Next time I see them maybe I'll be an even bigger fan. Richy [ February 2nd, 2004 ] |