Download exclusive new song by The Shins

As part of the Levis Pioneer Sessions download The Shins covering "Goodbye Girl". for Levi’s, Mercer is back in Shins’ mode re-crafting “Goodbye Girl,” a tightly-wound pop masterpiece written by Squeeze’s songwriting team of Chris Difford (smart lyrics) and Glenn Tilbrook (catchy melodies). One of the ’80s best pop bands, Squeeze included “Goodbye Girl” on its 1979 classic Cool for Cats, which undoubtedly found its way into the hands of a teenage Mercer when he was living in England. Pitting a reverbed guitar against an earthy acoustic strum he treats it reverently without undoing its big chorus.

Download here

Check out the other awesome artists on the Levis Pioneer Sessions here including The Kills, Jason Mraz,

The Shins tour dates

The Shins will release on April 9 "Australia" single on Transgressive Records.

The CD single includes the B-sides "Sleeping Lessons (Andre Allen Anjos Remix)", "Saint Simon (Live on BBC2's Mark Radcliffe show)", and "Girl on a Wing (Live on KCRW's 'Morning Becomes Eclectic')". It is only scheduled for release in the UK.


Dates:

03-05 Dallas, TX - Palladium Ballroom *
03-06 Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theater *
03-07 Austin, TX - The Backyard *
03-09 Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium *
03-10 Winston-Salem, NC - The Millennium Center *
03-12 Washington, DC - DAR Constitution Hall *
03-13 Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory *
03-14 New York, NY - Theater at Madison Square Garden *
03-15 Boston, MA - Orpheum Theater *
03-16 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis *
03-17 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus *
03-25 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC *
03-26 Wolverhampton, England - Wulfrun Hall *
03-27 Manchester, England - Academy 2 *
03-28 London, England - Forum *
03-29 London, England - Forum *
03-31 Brussels, Belgium - Botanique *
04-01 Paris, France - Trabendo *
04-03 Cologne, Germany - Stollwerck *
04-04 Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof *
04-05 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso *
04-11 Phoenix, AZ - Celebrity Theater
04-12 San Diego, CA - SOMA
04-14 Los Angeles, CA - Gibson Amphitheatre (KCRW's Sounds Eclectic Evening 6) #
04-16 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield
04-17 San Francisco, CA - The Warfield

* with Viva Voce
# with Lily Allen, Cold War Kids, Bitter: Sweet
Video: The Shins: Phantom Limb

Paste magazine

Paste magazine, recent winner at the Plug awards of Best Magazine has a few interesting features to read.

First up, a review of a recent Sufjan Stevens show


and a great article on one of my favourite bands, The Shins:

"It’s 5:38 a.m. in Portland, Ore., and I’m staring into the abyss. I’m lying on my back, eyes wide open, in my bed at the Hotel Lucia. Pretty soon the sounds of a city waking up will penetrate these thin walls and the light of day will filter in through the insufficient blinds until all hope of a restful night’s sleep has vanished."

And if you don't listen to their podcast, why not? It's the best portable radio show around. Get it here.

The Shins interview

I was at a Ryan Adams gig a few years ago I was standing waiting for the show to begin and got chatting to a Berkely student beside me. He was really into the same music and I asked him what he was getting into lately. "The Shins" he replied, "you just have to get your hands on Oh Inverted Road". I wrote it down in my notebook and duly purchased it. I've been hooked to the band since.


Ahead of the release of their (very good) new album, Wincing the Night Away Pitchfork have bagged an interview with the wonderful Albuquerque, New Mexico indie boys.

There's very little one can say about the Shins that hasn't already been said, and even less that warrants being said at all. Peel back the layers of hyperbole, hype, and backlash, and the Shins are simply an unassuming and excellent formalist indie pop band. In anticipation of its third Sub Pop full-length, Wincing the Night Away, we spoke with frontman James Mercer about the band's new album and their growing popularity.

READ ON HERE

DOWNLOAD: Phantom Limb MP3