Shins headed to Number One?

Indie rockers the Shins could potentially land at Number One on this week's Billboard 200 album chart, according to Hits Daily Double. First-week sales of the band's third album, Wincing The Night Away, could reach 90,000 copies, according to industry tracking. A Number One debut would be historic for the group's tiny label, Sub Pop Records, which has never had a chart-topping release despite launching the careers of acts like Nirvana and Soundgarden. The chart's Number One album has failed to reach sales of 100,000 copies for the last three weeks as a drastic plunge in CD sales has gripped the music industry in January.

The Shins released Wincing The Night Away last Tuesday (January 23rd). It follows up the Portland, Oregon band's 2003 release, Chutes Too Narrow, and features the single "Phantom Limb."

The Shins will begin the first leg of their tour in support of the new album on February 8th in Minneapolis.

The group played a surprise show at the Amoeba Music record store in Los Angeles on Friday night (January 26th), enduring several delays as fire marshals tried to control a crowd of several hundred that spilled out onto Sunset Boulevard.

In related news, the Shins' manager, Ian Montone, is reportedly close to finalizing a deal for his other high-profile clients, the White Stripes. The Jack White-led duo became free agents when their label, V2 Records, shut down two weeks ago. Interscope Records is rumored to have the inside track on nabbing both the Stripes and White's other band, the Raconteurs.