My Rating: 100% (A++)
Pitchfork Rating: 76%
Rolling Stone Rating: 70%
Metacritic Rating: 73%
Average Rating: 80% (B+)
Tracklist (Standout songs underlined):
- Name for You
- Painting A Hole
- Cherry Hearts
- Fantasy Island
- Mildenhall
- Rubber Ballz
- Half a Million
- Dead Alive
- Heartworms
- So Now What
- The Fear
Label:
Favourite Song on Album:
Listen to This Album When You’re:
Feeling like a mix of Arcade Fire and Empire of the Sun.
Thoughts on Album Cover:
Anything acid art is pretty much a win, so this one really works for me.
Want to Own on Vinyl?:
Just bought it! So stoked on it.
Final Thoughts:
I hate when a band I’ve loved for a long time releases an album that trumps all their previous work, why? It always makes me sound like an amateur fan and I lose 100 pretentious points. Heartworms is The Shins best album yet, it’s a good mix of awesome instrumentals and really unique vocal performances. The album reinvents the band in a good way, they rolled the dice on this release and won big. It’s like we got a little bit of both worlds between The Shins and Breaking Bells on Heartworms. Controversial claim or otherwise, The Shins have never been this good, Heartworms is a huge accomplishment from this instantly lovable band.