Oh, Inverted World (20th Anniversary Remaster)

Album review

As the new millennium dawned, Sub Pop was still closely associated with grunge and ear-piercing rock'n'roll. The Seattle label's former signings included Nirvana, Mudhoney, Green River, Soundgarden, Tad, Mark Lanegan and L7. But Sub Pop also had a boisterous line in bright pop music with shiny guitars, as the debut album from the Shins demonstrated perfectly. Boisterousness and perfection are two words that fit very well with this rather retro, somewhat 60s pop effort. One listen reveals that frontman James Mercer is haunted by the music of Brian Wilson's Beach Boys, Arthur Lee's Love and Colin Blunstone's Zombies. The underground praised the genius of Oh, Inverted World when it was released in June 2001, but it only changed Mercer's life three years later, thanks to the film Garden State, in which Natalie Portman's character tells protagonist-director Zach Braff that her life had been changed by the music of... The Shins!

While the 90s were full of the cynicism and the offbeat irony of a group like Pavement, the following decade opted for goodwill and introspection with The Shins. Their version of indie rock is more vulnerable, more sincere and packed with emotion. Slick choruses, light songs, shimmering melodies, and sunny guitars: Mercer is one hell of a songwriter and every inch a match for his predecessors. Twenty years after its release, Oh, Inverted World has been remastered by the great Bob Ludwig and now at last it is available in Hi-Res. A good reason to revisit this classic that turned its author's life upside down "This record gave me the life that I never really dreamed I would have. It opened me up to the whole world and gave me validation. It’s also something that stands as a bit of a pinnacle for our band. You release that first record and it’s so well embraced, but you’re always trying to get that magic back, I think. We’ve done well, certainly, but the fervor that happened around Oh, Inverted World we never quite reached again. It’s a special moment when you’re a new band and you’ve got what was apparently kind of a new sound..."© Marc Zisman/Qobuz