Jangly, catchy … and good

Though still basking in their post-“Garden State” glow, indie rock group The Shins confirm in the their highly anticipated third album, “Wincing The Night Away,” that they can produce more than the jangly and catchy but ultimately superficial pop made famous by their first two albums.

Songwriter and lead singer James Mercer finds his edge in “Wincing,” using hooky melodies combined with something a bit deeper, a bit more meaningful and a whole lot more convincing. “Phantom Limb,” is classic Shins but with a previously lacking intensity, while “Sea Legs” is a rhythmic science experience that submerges hip-hop in a lagoon of dark passion: “You belong to a simpler time / I’m a victim to the impact of these words / And this rhyme,” Mercer intones.

The first half of the album is far more exciting — the second half slips into well-trodden paths and subdued though solid melodies — but the entire product oozes mature confidence and addictive charm. If The Shins have already become a permanent fixture in the indie underground, “Wincing” could be the album that puts them on the road to the modern rock hall of fame.