The Shins - Chicago, IL

If you haven't seen the movie Garden State, there's a memorable scene in which the adorable Natalie Portman hands the film's star, Zack Braff, her headphones and tells him to listen to the Shin's song, "New Slang."

"It'll change your life," she promises.

Although the film's soundtrack features other artists, it's the Shins whom Braff (who also wrote and directed the film) chose to feature in the movie, and in subsequent interviews, declared to be true poets of our time, calling them the Simon and Garfunkel of Generation X.

Steeped in Beach Boys-esque (pre-"Kokomo") melody and catchy hooks that infuse west-coast psychedelia, the Shins two albums-2001's Oh, Inverted World and 2003's Chutes Too Narrow-are considered to be among the best indie rock offerings of the last five years; at least by hipsters with tight jeans and tussled hair.

But could merely listening to the Shins change one's life? The minimal exposure I had to the band brought no discernible difference to my emotional state. I still cry myself to sleep and laugh at people who cry. It's true that I immediately took a shine to their studio work. Although it was several weeks before I realized that my favorite song from Oh, Inverted World was actually a bonus track by the Postal Service that a co-worker had added to the end of the disc when she burned it for me.

Regardless, my expectations were high as I stood in line to see them on a recent stop in Chicago. Judging by the turnout-a quick sellout of the (estimated) 4,000-seat Congress Theater-a lot of people took note of Braff's declaration.

I was almost as surprised by the packed house as the Shins, who seemed blown away by their burgeoning fan base, which looks to be growing exponentially. Throughout the evening, the band's keyboard/bassist/guitarist, Marty Crandell, repeatedly said as much, reminding himself and the crowd that they had never played outside of the city's collection of intimate (small) music clubs. Of course, making it an "all-ages" show, which ended before 10 p.m. because it was a school night, surely helped ticket sales. More importantly, the admittance of youngsters was a boon to merchandise sales, as the nuclear family that sat behind me in their freshly purchased "Shins" concert T-shirts can attest to.

When the Shins took the stage to thunderous applause, my anticipation grew. Because while the band is great at churning out richly textured pop songs chalk full of vocal harmonization, they are also adept at turning up the amp to levels that would've straightened Garfunkel's afro. For this reason, I was curious about seeing them live. For me, a band's live performance can make or break my allegiance. I can't count the number of times I've dismissed an album, only to revisit it after a killer live performance with a fresh, reinvigorated perspective.

It was not to be this way for the Shins, who are best advised to concentrate their efforts to the studio or else add some kind of pyrotechnics and/or dancing midgets to the live show (perhaps midgets loaded with an armful of Roman Candles?). Not that it was bad-I enjoyed it. There's just nothing really memorable to elaborate on...no life changing moments. The live interpretations of their songs were nothing more than less-crisp versions of their studio work, but with pleasurable addition of screaming teenagers. The band made their way through faithful renditions of most (if not all) of the material from their albums, and threw in a pretty good cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Strange Powers."

But I will say this: There's something about James Mercer's voice that fills my belly with warm fuzzies and provokes me into bouts of maudlin, nostalgic reflections. Much like Paul Simon (I would also include Brian Wilson and Cat Stevens in this category), the Shin's lead singer/songwriter possesses an ethereal, soulful quality in his voice that can turn the cheesiest pop ditty into serious art. It's an intangible quality each of these musicians possess in their vocal intonation and delivery, an ability to make every lyric seem profound. If you don't know what I'm talking about, skip the live show and buy a Shins' album. Better yet, burn it. Better still, just go see Garden State. That movie will change your life.