Arriving less than a year after
Heartworms,
The Worm's Heart finds
the Shins literally flipping the script: James Mercer and crew turn their previous album's track listing on its head and transform its fast songs into slow ones, and vice-versa. While
Heartworms was already some of the band's most eclectic music,
the Shins stretch their range even further on these "flipped" versions of its songs. There are moments on
The Worm's Heart that surpass the original album. "The Fear" gets one of the most radical and successful makeovers here, changing from a string-laden ballad into a chugging rocker that sounds like a
Velvet Underground rehearsal. It's loose, unexpected, and fun, and so are the remakes of "So Now What," which dabbles in chillwave; the newly riff-heavy "Cherry Hearts," and the electro-pop rework of "Heartworms." ~ Heather Phares