The Shins
Oh, Inverted World
Sub Pop

In the business of music reviewing, it's something of an impractical cliché to say an album is worth picking up for one song alone. But really, in an era of mp3s and $17 CDs, nobody but the most boy-band-obsessed teen or die-hard music nerd reviewer buys an album for three-and-a-half minutes of pop perfection. It just ain't done.

But then along come the Shins, their album Oh, Inverted World and, most importantly, the timeless psychedelia of "New Slang." If ever an album was worth owning simply for the sheer pop pleasure of a single song, it's this early summer Sub Pop sleeper, which features not only "New Slang" but an alternate RealPlayer and Windows Media video for the song. (To see the MTV-aired video, in which the band parodies well-known album covers, click here.)

Working in "New Slang's" favor is a catchy, Beach Boys-style fade-in worthy of Brian Wilson at the height of his powers. The intro gives way to a wispy, countrified tambourine-and-guitar number with lyrics like

Gold teeth and a curse for this town
were all in my mouth
Only I don't know how
they got out, dear
Turn me back into the pet
I was when we met
I was happier then, with no mindset

That, in turn, leads into a catchy chorus that gives way to a guitar solo that trumps a million alt-country songs before eventually working into a fadeout that echoes the song's glorious beginning.

Though "New Slang" has a bit of twang, Oh, Inverted World borders more along the lines of '90s psych rock, with bits and pieces of other genres thrown in for good measure. The rest of the 11-song album, which seems to be built around "New Slang," its sixth track, falls short of that song's pop perfection, but it hardly disappoints.

"Your Algebra," the short ninth track that opens with the sound of someone pacing in an empty room, features the album's most inaccessible lyrics and instrumentation, yet foggy, dreamlike production values build what's essentially a brief interlude into one of the album's most memorable moments.

Too bad the song then segues into the sounds of children playing before kicking off the decidedly ordinary "Pressed in a Book."

And that's probably the biggest problem with Oh, Inverted World. Though it's got a candidate for indie rock song of the year and a handful of other solid tunes, there are enough plain-old psychedelic pop song moments that simply recall Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control or a thousand Elephant Six bands.

Still, it's impossible to ignore the considerable pop weight of "New Slang," and "Weird Divide" is a languid, countrified psych number that gives us a hint of what Pink Floyd might have sounded like had Syd Barrett still been around during the Meddle sessions. And even some of the run-of-the-mill '90s-psych stuff features fresh elements, like the catchy new-wave bits of "Know Your Onion" or "Girl on the Wing" or the 10-second fadeout at the end of "Girl Inform Me."

In that sense, The Shins have created the perfect car album: One classic pop tune, a handful of goodies, and nothing offensive enough to ruin your Thursday afternoon drive home from work.

— Eric Wittmershaus (ericw at flakmag dot com)