Focus on the Family reviews indierock
The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

Young christians, stay away:

There's an angry edge to the intolerant "Sleeping Lessons." Numbness and futility haunt "Australia," which imagines marriage as a lonely prison. Other songs contain random, disjointed references to sexual intimacy, moral relativism, unhealthy relationships, "pilfered booze" and a dog getting whacked by a locomotive. In general, it seems life is meaningless and beyond our control, giving way to postmodern subjectivity. An amoral track describes a rebellious teenager who "spat in her teacher's eye" ("Pam Berry"). On "Red Rabbits" lead singer James Mercer uses a crass term for urination and says, "I don't know/I might just give the old dark side a try."