The Shins are an American indie rock band from Albuquerque, New Mexico, formed in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of James Mercer (vocals, guitar, songwriter), Joe Plummer (drums), Jessica Dobson (guitar), Yuuki Matthews (bass), Nick Teeling (glockenspiel), and Richard Swift (keyboards). The band is based in Portland, Oregon.

The band was formed by Mercer and original drummer Jesse Sandoval as a side project to Flake Music, who were active from 1992 to 1999. The band released two 7" singles on Omnibus Records and were touring with Modest Mouse when they were signed to Sub Pop Records. The band's first two records, Oh, Inverted World (2001) and Chutes Too Narrow (2003) performed well commercially and received critical acclaim. The single "New Slang" brought the band mainstream attention when it was featured in the 2004 film Garden State. Consequently, the band's third album, Wincing the Night Away (2007), was a major success for the group, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 and earning a Grammy Award nomination.