Knitting Factory announces September date with the Shins

The Shins are coming to Spokane in September.

And it’s about time, too, at least if the newspaper archives are correct: Aside from a couple stops at Sasquatch at the Gorge Amphitheatre, including the 2017 edition, the indie rockers have been noticeably absent from Eastern Washington.

That all changes on Sept. 24, when James Mercer and the gang set up for a night at the Knitting Factory in support of their latest album, “Heartworms.”

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketweb, at www.ticketweb.com or by phone at (866) 468-7623. The price is $39.50.

The Shins formed in 1996 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and released a few singles before finding critical acclaim with its first album, “Oh, Inverted World.” But it was the 2004 film “Garden State” that brought mainstream success for the band. Two songs were featured on the hit soundtrack, and one, “New Slang,” is featured prominently in the film.

Mercer has changed the lineup of the Shins often in recent years, and with a new batch of musicians he released in March the fifth Shins’ album, “Heartworms.” As Rolling Stone noted in its review, “ ‘Heartworms’ has more of a home-brewed feel, heavy on Beach Boys grandeur, New Wave kicks, squiggly synth-pop and warm-weather soft rock – with lyrics tenderly balanced between midlife malaise and youthful romanticism. The result is some of most charming music (James Mercer has) ever made.”