For all of the sell-out haters out there, get ready to get your hate on. The Shins are no longer the indie darlings they once were. It is clear based on Billboard chart placement that the time has now come for them to snub their original audience and start writing perfect pop songs. (oh wait, isn't this what they have been doing for a long time?) According to the billboard charts website:

The Shins had never been higher than No. 86 on The Billboard 200 prior to this week, nor had Sub Pop been higher than No. 79 (with the Afghan Whigs' "Black Love" in 1996). "Wincing the Night Away" also opens at No. 1 on Top Independent Albums, Top Digital Albums and the Top Tastemakers chart. First single "Phantom Limb" is top 20 on Billboard's Modern Rock chart.

So what does this tell us? I propose we need to ban together as the indie community and have a good ol' record burning. It is time to remove these guys out of our lives and move on to much more important things like finding the next indie band to push into unwanted stardom and digest throughly before sending it out into the masses and out of our lives. I elect the muslims. Not only do they seem the least interested in an unforseen rise to indie stardom, but they also have genuinely good songs. Two strikes against them! /v