good for the shins

just came across this song on a sunny afternoon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AizvdIO-evc

i think he's a good singer. listen to the note where he sings: "You love!" (a sinking stone), about a minute in. he digs into that note like it was a big ol' rice krispie treat, it almost doesn't sound like him for a second.

[side note -- i wonder what percentage of my youtube enjoyment is derived from the videos themselves, versus the comments underneath. the things people say... it's such a freakshow frontier. but once in awhile, you'll come across a video, you settle in, and it'll feel a little different. a little cozier. and a lot of times, the videos you see are the ones that are viewed the most times: your top 100 all-time subscribers brand of video, the subjects ranging from comedy, news, any kind of movie or tv show clip, and most (i say most) music videos... pretty much anything that either youtube recommends to you in some way, or you find on some well-established, often-frequented site. but to find a quality video with not that many views, that you like, and where you feel quite in accordance with the peanut gallery below, call me old-fashioned, but I think it's nice. It's kind of enchanting, like a charming mythical forest creature, and it beckons you. You've got a believable ratio of thumbs-up signs, generally intelligent, positive comments on the aesthetic qualities of the performance at hand, and you see that the video's been up since 2007. 2007?! that's like reading a newspaper article from 1978. i like to feel indie on the internet, sue me.]

...

but, back to the shins. the real reason for this post was to say that the shins can be nice. people get down on the shins, but let's not forget that most bands would aspire to inspire that much ire. they are still the shins. what they really inspire is spite. I feel like they became the image of the small acoustic indie band that got sold out not really to hollywood, to a pretty small filmmaker, but that hollywood in turn sold it out to us, and therein lies the beef. but they make nice sounds. granted, i might feel like beating the crap out of a pillow if you made me listen to "chutes too narrow" in its entirety, but in the correct dosage. they have wacky nonsensical lyrics and sort of sucker you into shit, I think that's also why people get kind of sexually frustrated with them. but some passages of their songs give really nicely. the first shins song i ever heard was "caring is creepy" and it was some transcendent shit at the time. i couldn't stop listening to it. time will wear away that pure of a thrill, but i still get a wee bit juiced whenever it comes on.

You wanna fight for this love,
but honey you cannot wrestle a dove,
so baby it's clear.

don't baby me, shins! i am not your baby. you're right though. it's true. touché.