This album will probably not change your life.

Since fan boy Zach Braff shamelessly plugged The Shins in Garden State, the band has seemed destined for huge things. The band took another step toward that destination when it appeared on Saturday Night Live just a couple of weeks ago.

But with what could be its final offering on its record label, Sub Pop Records (as a major label is sure to pony up some big bucks for the band after this album), The Shins cut short its greatest attributes on new album Wincing the Night Away.

That wouldn't be so bad had the band forged a path in another direction, but that would be a huge risk -- a risk the band can't afford to take. The Shins took the great things that put them on the map--pure harmonies, subtle arrangements and every part of a song as a working cog in a well-oiled machine--and watered them down for public consumption.

Favoring overly accessible production values and simplistic melodies, the sublime harmonies of the band's debut, Oh, Inverted World, have gone out the window. And while James Mercer's lyrical talents are still intact, the band seems to get more sterile.

It would be wrong to call Wincing the Night Away stripped-down. The band still maintains its layered, jangle-pop style, most notably on the album's highlight
and lead single "Phantom Limb." But the songwriting has become a bit more predictable, and the tactless production schemes do nothing to alleviate that harsh reality.

The band relies more on bells and whistles than substance, as in the quirky keyboards in "Red Rabbits."

Despite all that, the album remains an entertaining listen at times. It just falls short of its potential, content to settle for simplicity without purity. It may be the album The Shins wanted to make, but it's not the album that they're capable of making.

There are few things more frustrating than seeing one of the best young bands in the world deteriorate before your eyes. The album has sold more copies via Internet presale than any album in Sub Pop Records' history. If that trend continues, it may very well change The Shins' lives. Grade: C

-- Reviewed by Kevin Doran