What's the deal with The Shins?

[danlo]

I used to be fairly well up on the local music scene, I was friends with members of The Muttz (who were on Star Search, about 16 years ago, btw), The Illegal Aliens, The Ant Farmers, A Murder of Crows...the list goes on and on. So I'm out of it now, but I still read all the local art pubs. Yet I've never even heard of The Shins--who are, apparently the first band ever out of Albuquerque to get real national exposure.

They're all over the place now, thanks in part to opening for Modest Mouse on their last tour. I did see a snippet of one of their songs last night on VH2-they, sorta, sounded like a mix of The Beach Boys and XTC...very nice stuff. Aside from this Albq.'s only claim to fame was Randy Castillo (Ozzy's drummer) and Bo Diddley.

[A Gunslinger]

The Shins are a (former) cult favorite that Zach Braff made famous by inserting their music and as a story element in his movie Garden State.

Personally I like them quite a bit. Their single "Phantom Limb" is GREAT! Might be one of the best of the year.