With the recent release of the band’s fifth album, Heartworms, The Shins has posted a shiny, chrome-fendered competition for fans by putting its very first tour van up as the prize. Entering the competition will take a fair amount of effort, though, as you’ll need to send in a recording of your own cover of a song from the new album, so if you don’t have any musical skills or recording setup then you’re going to find it difficult to come away with van, unless you stage an elaborate Gru-esque heist.
To add even more automotive sugar into the mix, the band has also given the stately Ford van a bit of a fix-up job to ensure that whoever they pass it on to doesn’t get left with a nail. It’s probably not the only work it’s had over its 21-year service to music, especially when you take into account the fact that it was caked in manure when the band first got it, which led on to a power wash, carpet fitting and shelf bed construction right from the beginning.
While the van put in a lot of miles back in the early days of The Shins’ US tours, it’s been in a state of retirement of late. According to James Mercer in the video below it’s only being used once in a blue moon at the moment to move a sofa or pick up a Christmas tree when needed. As a result he wants the van to fulfill its true potential once again and ship one lucky band or artist around for their own spit and sawdust beginnings.
To enter the competition, you just need to record a video covering one of the new songs from Heartworms and simply submit it on Twitter using the hashtag, #ShinsVanContest. James will then choose out his favourite to award the van to. There have already been a fair few entrants firing up their cover videos online and you can check out a selection of them on Twitter.
If you haven’t got the album yet, it came out on the 10th March 2016 and there’s a hefty eleven songs on the tracklist to cover, including singles, Dead Alive and Name For You.
If you’re looking for any tips, our shout would be an Afro-beats version of Dead Alive with a calypso interlude and bongo drum freakout ending. An experimental psych cover of Name For You is another good shout, but if you wanted to go to the outer fringes of the extreme you could go for a heavy metal take on Rubber Ballz.
