• Record Label: Sub Pop
  • Release Date: Jan 23, 2007
User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 188 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 10 out of 188

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  1. j30
    Jan 24, 2012
    7
    This an interesting release from The Shins, especially after Chutes Too Narrow, the feels like it has too much of a mainstream appeal. I guess my biggest problem with it all is they play it too safe.
  2. Mar 19, 2020
    9
    There isn't a loose song on the album. It's a shame 15 year old idiots give albums a zero score...
  3. Jan 9, 2020
    9
    It is both: one of the most underrated and unknown albums of all time. Mercer kills every tack from start to finish. Probably their strogest album to date. But hey, thats only my opinion...
Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 37 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 37
  2. Negative: 0 out of 37
  1. Wincing is neither the clever genre recombinant exercise of their second album nor is it the perfect little self-contained universe of their debut. This is not the Shins' best album; it's their growing pains third record.
  2. I usually find Shins albums grow on me slowly but surely yet after a good dozen plays I feel my faith isn't being repaid this time, and as a fan that's frustrating.
  3. Wincing the Night Away feels labored. Gracefully realized though it is, you can hear the three-plus years Mercer spent pondering how to satisfy the expectations his surprise classic had created -- and also how to remain fresh and true to himself.