Yes! Yes! Yes!

I'm having a Shinsgasm! The Shins will be opening their Wincing the Night Away tour at First Ave on Feb. 8, and I will be there. (Thanks, Jon) I don't care if it's not cool to like them anymore- Garden State be damned. I suppose if I was a truly hardcore I would have downloaded all the tracks by now. But to me The Shins are such a whole-disc kind of band, so I'm waiting until the 23rd to buy the CD. But I have been listening to all the leaks and reading anything about the new release I can get my hands on.

Here are tidbits from the press junket thus far:

Don DeLillo's white Noise is "one of the best-written novels" James Mercer has ever read. Drowned in Sound, Jan. 15.

Part of the insomnia James Mercer writes about on the new disc was caused by living next door to a crack house. This is also where James Mercer is compared to Woody Allen. The Guardian, Jan. 5.

James Mercer will be singing backup on 3 of the new Modest Mouse tracks due out in March. Billboard, Jan. 5.

Eric Johnson from the Fruit Bats has joined the Shins. Pitchfork, Jan. 2

The cover art for Wincing the Night away, suggesting "diatoms," was designed by James Mercer's brother Robert. The Stranger, Dec. 5.

"Sea legs" uses the sounds of bottlecaps on the amp and a guitar pick on teeth. Officious Business: The Shins Go Hollywood with John Krasinski, Filter, Holiday 2006.

James Mercer writes the melody for a song first, then comes up with lyrics using "'some kind of imagery provoked by the music,'" usually from his personal life. He is living in the same house that Elliott Smith lived in when he recorderd Roman Candle. Great Expectations, Magnet, Nov/Dec. 2006.

The Kinks, 'Only You' by the Platters, 'Please Please Please' by James Brown and The Zombies and a Hawaiian band were all heard at James Mercer's wedding, Drowned in Sound, Nov. 22.

Other notable Shins press:
Shinning the Mainstream. The Sun, Jan. 12.
The Shins: Airy Pop Hits It Big NPR, Jan. 12