Shins: Port of Morrow Review (Three Takes)

by josh keller · Published April 16, 2012 · Updated May 6, 2012

It can be difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt a review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective in such a medium, here are Three reactions, Three impressions, Three Takes on Port of Morrow by The Shins.

Ali Elabbady (Background Noise Crew, Egypto Knuckles)

91/100

Since Wincing The Night Away, we didn’t think we’d ever see a Shins reunion per se – but we certainly didn’t expect a whole new group appearing alongside lead singer James Mercer. Since his bout with experimentation along with Danger Mouse as Broken Bells, most folks expected a Shins reunion to be just that, but one must ask how Port of Morrow sounds in that context. In that question, it’s technically like the Shins have never left, and if anything, it shows that in some reunions or comebacks so to speak, one person bringing back that certain nostalgia is just as powerful, take a listen to such tunes as “Simple Song,” or “Fall of ’82” and while Port of Morrow is certainly a more subdued affair, its material hasn’t affected the potency that Mercer has as a force to be reckoned with in the indie singer/songwriter realm.

Jeremy Hovda

77/100

If you had asked me two months ago, I would have told you that The Shins have probably hung it up for good. And well, actually all of them have, except James Mercer. He has assembled four new musicians, called them “The Shins” and recorded this album. (Apparently, “The Shins” is just a stage name for Mercer and whomever he happens to be playing with at the time). It’s been five years and a very successful “side project,” Broken Bells, since the Shins’ last LP – Wincing the Night Away. It’s been eight years since Zach Braff asked Natalie Portman what she was listening to, and she replied, “The Shins. . . .You gotta hear this song. It will change your life. I swear,” as the opening bars of “New Slang” rose to a slow-motion close-up of Portman’s smiling face, introducing most of America to this band. That moment lead to the Grammy – not for The Shins; they’ve never won one – for Zach Braff. (Did you know that you can get a Grammy for what is essentially producing a mix-tape? They call it “Best Compilation Soundtrack”). But I digress.

Mercer may be a bit of a self-regarding solipsist, but no one denies that he has some serious songwriting chops, at least when it comes to the melodies (the lyrics are another matter). He has the ability to craft beautiful tunes that meld folk and jangle-pop, and when delivered by his paper-thin voice with ethereal backing harmonies, it can add up to something quite singular. Some of that old beauty comes through on Port of Morrow. “September” and “Simple Song” stand out. Even the weaker moments on this album are mildly pleasant, if a bit bland. Yet, it’s hard to shake the feeling that this is an album from a band whose moment has come and gone. If you’re looking for a few nice songs to listen to, or if you’re looking to rekindle some mid-90’s nostalgia, this might be your album. If you’re looking for today’s “Best New Music,” you should look elsewhere.

Josh

57/100

I actually liked the Shins at one point. Somewhere along the way something changed, and listening to their latest release Port of Morrow, I really feel like it wasn’t me. Yes, I like weirder crap now than I used to, but especially for a band I had a genuine affinity for at one point, I have not gone so far that I wouldn’t be able to acknowledge if the album was decent. After the solid opener “Simple Song,” I had a hard to giving the rest of the record a chance after the awful dud that is “It’s Only Life.” Sounding like a terrible mix of Our Lady Peace (are they still a band?) and a christian rock group, the song is as trite and lifeless as a song can be. James Mercer doesn’t bother with creative melodies, lyrics or arrangements. There are moments of equally poor judgements sprinkled throughout (like the weird falsetto of the title track) and scant few times where Mercer seems capable of the soft rock ditties he once spun out effortlessly. It isn’t the lack of energy on the LP that makes the album so weak as the band never won over listeners with volume or intensity, but simply the lack of discernible songs. If you aren’t creating atmosphere or getting the listener moving with a groove, you damn well better write good songs. The Shins (basically James Mercer and mercenaries) did that in spades on their first two albums, lost some of the sparkle on their last LP Wincing the Night Away, and competently dropped the ball on Port of Morrow.

EPA REGION 7 COMPLETES 10,000TH RESIDENTIAL YARD CLEANUP OF LEAD-CONTAMINATED SOILS AT OMAHA LEAD SITE IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA

US Fed News Service, Including US State News December 17, 2011 KANSAS CITY, Dec. 15 — The Environmental Protection Agency issued the following press release:

Representatives of EPA Region 7, the State of Nebraska, the City of Omaha, Douglas County, Neb., and local residents gathered today in Omaha to celebrate EPA’s completion of its 10,000th cleanup of toxic lead from residential yard soils in the city, a milestone in the Agency’s continuing work at the Omaha Lead Superfund Site. go to website city of omaha

Under the authority of the Superfund program, EPA has been working in Omaha since 1999 to identify and remove lead from residential properties, as well as public parks, playgrounds, and child care facilities. To date, the Agency has sampled more than 39,000 properties in Omaha, and – as of October 23, 2011 – completed the cleanup of its 10,000th residential yard.

Approximately 4,100 properties with elevated levels of lead in soils remain to be cleaned up to complete EPA’s work at the nation’s largest residential lead remediation site. Aided by favorable weather, long outdoor construction seasons and a continued record-setting work pace for soil remediation, EPA and its contractors anticipate that the job could be completed by 2015.

“EPA’s successful work in Omaha has kept families healthier, secured property values in the city’s heart, and provided valuable job training,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “This agency has worked productively with a range of local partners for over a decade to get the lead out of Omaha, and we’re staying on task until we’ve finished our job.” Brooks today joined Nebraska State Sen. Brenda J. Council, Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle, Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour, other state and local officials, and several property owners at a news conference at the Omaha-Douglas Civic Center to mark the 10,000-yard milestone.

The EPA Regional Administrator noted that the lead cleanup’s main objective, to protect current and future generations of Omaha’s children from health hazards associated with lead poisoning, has already proven to be a success. The percentage of children in eastern Omaha tested with elevated blood lead levels has been reduced from nearly 33 percent prior to 1998, to less than two percent today.

The cleanup is also paying significant economic benefits, Brooks said. To date, EPA’s total investments of $247.9 million at the Omaha Lead Site have contributed to community revitalization and redevelopment, improvement of property values, local employment and economic growth.

EPA contracts have provided more than $61 million in spending so far on local materials and local labor, adding about 300 high-paying ($23 to $30 per hour) seasonal jobs to the local economy for each of the past four years. EPA has also awarded $500,000 to a cooperative agreement with the Omaha Metropolitan Community College to provide job training and certifications to local workers, helping to build a skilled labor force to assist in the cleanup, and for future employment beyond the site. cityofomahanow.com city of omaha

EPA’s related investments in Omaha’s public health education and protection include cooperative agreements of $9.7 million to the City of Omaha for paint stabilization and database development, $3.9 million to the Douglas County Health Department for interior home assessments, $205,000 to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) to support its work at the Omaha Lead Site, and a $50,000 technical assistance grant to the Lead Safe Omaha Coalition.

Today, Regional Administrator Brooks thanked those departments, agencies and groups, along with numerous neighborhood organizations – and the people of Omaha – for working cooperatively with EPA on the continuing cleanup.

EPA’s Omaha mission dates back to 1998, when the Omaha City Council solicited the Agency’s assistance in addressing problems with lead contamination in area soils, prompted by cleanup activities at the former ASARCO lead smelter along the west bank of the Missouri River.

From the early 1870s until it closed in 1997, the ASARCO plant emitted lead and other heavy metals into the atmosphere from smoke stacks and fugitive emissions. Those pollutants were carried by wind and deposited on the ground across eastern Omaha for more than a century. Over time, soils around many residences have also been contaminated with lead from the flaking and deterioration of lead-based exterior paints.

Lead in surface soils poses a serious health risk to children six years of age and younger, and to pregnant women. Lead poisoning can result in learning and behavioral problems, hearing problems, diminished IQ, and kidney damage. EPA also classifies lead as a possible cancer-causing agent.

Parents are urged to have children six years of age and younger tested for lead each year. Testing is available through most local family physicians, and from the Douglas County Health Department. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com Chris Whitley, 913/551-7394, 816-518-2794, whitley.christopher@epa.gov.