photos courtesy of Lesli Kalohi of Never Cool In School.

Last night, the latest incarnation of The Shins brought their tour in support of their first new album in five years Port of Morrow to The House of Blues in Houston. Having rebuilt the band after several lineup changes, James Mercer enlisted Beck guitarist Jessica Dobson, Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer, Crystal Skulls bassitst Yuuki Matthews, and indie-renaissance man/producer Richard Swift on keyboards to tighten up the Shins’ classic jangly pop sound into the slick, organic sound Mercer has been aiming for since 2007’s Wincing the Night Away.

Hit the jump for the full recap.

– sunbear

With the same lineup we had seen back at SXSW earlier this year, I can safely say that this version of the band is the most focused, most lush sounding they have ever been. Opening their set with The Shins exemplar “Caring is Creepy,” the Albuquerque-six piece sounded absolutely massive, blowing the formerly rickety lo-fi song into a juggernaut of shimmering keyboards, taut rhythm section, and sweeping guitar work. Only Mercer’s familiar falsetto, which was always the defining feature of The Shins, harkened back to the sound of the band that will “change your life.”

Mercer certainly embraces his emotionally forthright roots, as he led his band into back catalogue classics like “Kissing The Lipless” and “New Slang,” the former slowed down to a wistful lullaby and the latter song given a sweet melodic boost from the backing vocals of Dobson, who herself was a one woman show, whose guitar work and technique perfectly punctuated Mercer’s folksy strumming.

Strangely enough, and in contrast to the hipster-minded “their old material is better” way of thinking, Port of Morrow proved to be the most well-known album amongst the sold out House of Blues crowd. Chalk that up to the fact that there really weren’t any hipsters at all at the show, rather, blue collar young professionals and their manic pixie librarian girlfriends.

The energy of Houston was certainly understated (surprise!), but the sing-alongs to “Bait and Switch” and “Simple Song” were as loud as, say a quintessential Shins song like “So Says I,” which, at the end of their set, roused the crowd into a dancing frenzy.

Brooklyn’s White Rabbits brought a raucous party early on with their dual drummers, whose syncopated rhythms were near impossible to stand still to. The thunderous momentum of their breakthrough single “Percussion Gun” stood in stark contrast to the streamlined sound of their third album Milk Famous which relies more on the sonics of atmosphere, busy basslines, and singers Stephen Patterson and Alexander Even’s reverby vocals, but all were met with impressed cheers from Houston.

In their short set, White Rabbits left quite the impression on the House of Blues crowd. So much so, that there was quite the crowd of people swarming the band after the show to nab a picture. It goes to show that with a strong first impression, you can be the most popular kids at the party. Bonus: they also win the award for most creative poster, which I stood next to at the merch booth, deciphering for 2 minutes.

SETLISTS:

THE SHINS
Caring Is Creepy
Simple Song
Bait and Switch
Know Your Onion!
Australia
Pam Berry
Phantom Limb
Saint Simon
The Rifle’s Spiral
It’s Only Life
So Says I
Sphagnum Esplanade
Kissing the Lipless
Port of Morrow
New Slang
Sleeping Lessons
Encore:
No Way Down
September
One by One All Day

WHITE RABBITS
I Had It Coming
Temporary
Rudie Fails
Are You Free
Heavy Metal
Kid On My Shoulders
Percussion Gun