The Shins: Oh, Inverted World (20th anniversary remaster) [SUB POP]

Why you'll love it

This 20th anniversary remaster comes with an expanded booklet of exclusive photos and handwritten lyrics. The album went platinum in 2023, Sub Pop's third ever after Nirvana's Bleach and The Postal Service's Give Up.

This edition

• 20th anniversary edition
• Remastered
• Expanded booklet with photos and handwritten lyrics

About the album

It's not every day a single gets a band signed. "New Slang" caused such a stir in 2001 that Sub Pop offered The Shins a deal on the strength of it, and Oh, Inverted World arrived as one of the most anticipated indie records of the year. James Mercer had been carrying some of these songs around since his days in Flake Music, waiting for a band that suited their oldies-radio, Elephant 6 heart.

Mercer produced it himself, with the band helping on a few tracks. "Caring Is Creepy" opens in a haze of reverb, "Know Your Onion!" is a bright jangle-pop gem, "Girl on the Wing" and "Weird Divide" shimmer, and "New Slang" remains one of the loveliest songs of its decade. A few years later Garden State put "New Slang" and "Caring Is Creepy" in front of a whole new crowd, and Mercer has named the closer, "The Past and Pending," as his own favourite.

Pitchfork ranked it among the top albums of the 2000s. The phrase "know your onion" came from Mercer's mother, who meant learn your trade properly. On the evidence here, he was listening.

Also at Kops: more The Shins on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Sub Pop (cat# SP1415), a reissue of the 2001 album.