The fact that Albuquerque's
Flake Music left only one full-length release to posterity (1997's
When You Land Here, It's Time to Return, Omnibus Records) will be one of the great tragic mysteries of the turn of the century. Why would a band whose shimmering guitar pop held the promise of delivering pop ecstasy on the order of
Robert Smith's best (before he got all mopey and maudlin ... well, after he stopped being mopey but before he got mopey again, if you can follow that) disband after releasing one of 1997's best overlooked albums? Why were these four seemingly misplaced southwesterners --
James Mercer, Neil Langford, Jessie Sandoval, and
Marty Crandall -- unable to re-ignite the pop torch and revive a musical niche left glaringly unfilled for far too long? Well, they have, they just traded instruments and places on stage and now go by the name
the Shins. So that's a plus. As for
Flake Music, they've left us with a trail of singles dating back to 1993, culminating in the future pop classic
When You Land Here, It's Time to Return. When you find music by this band, it's time to buy it. ~ Sean Hurley, All Music Guide