My Top 2000 Songs #1035: The Shins

Ok, this one's a little confusing. "The Shins" was a song on the 1997 debut LP from Flake Music, When You Land Here, It's Time To Return. The song title bears no discernible connection to the song lyrics, and grew all the more confusing when Flake Music frontman James Mercer opted to use it as the name of his new band, The Shins.

But, hey, cool song. The Flake Music album itself is a bit scattered, more a home recording project than a proper band release, though there are a few solid tracks. Opener "Spanway Hits" is another good one, almost landing in this slot, but ultimately "The Shins" is the one I find most enduring. It's simultaneously very 90s indie rock-sounding yet somehow strangely out-of-time, something disorienting about the stop-start rhythm I find appealing.