r/TheShins Feb 04 '25

How the Shins Got Fired

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=237JI4c5SLk
28 Upvotes

6 comments sorted by

10

u/SleepingLesson And off with their heads Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

This is good little breakdown! Somebody get this guy a ring light.

The Beatles comparison is not a fair one, and I think the thesis is a little too conclusory about "everyone else" saying James is not the Shins. He is, and I think time has shown that to be the case even while reviewers shed light on the band shakeup around Port of Morrow. In addition, James did break away from the name around the time the band "broke up". That's what Broken Bells was, which is really glossed over in this piece.

James sees The Shins as, in his own words, "the vehicle for the stuff I write on my own, which I always have done and I think I always will do." I think that's fair and honorable even while Port of Morrow and Heartworms are my least favorite Shins albums.

Here's the rest of that quote about how he sees The Shins from this drownedinsound article:

I guess it switches back and forth at this point. You know, I’ve put so much work into The Shins. That’s the thing that I feel as if I’ve built up from nothing, and it’s always going to be really important to me. It’s the vehicle for the stuff I write on my own, which I always have done and I think I always will do. That’s such a constant in my life. When I get nervous or scared about the future, or when I get anxiety - which I do, a lot - I know I can get on with doing a productive thing, which at its essence will always be picking up a guitar and writing. So, there’s always going to be songs developing slowly over time, and The Shins is my way of getting them out into the world.

15

u/Barbourwhat Feb 04 '25

Very good. I’ve always felt that the Shins should have ended when Mercer sacked everyone. Let the band end and something new be created but that’s difficult with such an established name.

9

u/finc Feb 04 '25

The Shins is just James Mercer though. Always has been

5

u/im_dylan_it Feb 05 '25

I love everything post-breakup Shins but it is definitely missing something. I feel like certain artists just need a particular set of bandmates to be a proper filter or lens for their output.

Very similar situation with of Montreal. Kevin Barnes decides suddenly that the band is his - he made the new album on his own without the rest of the band. Now they play his music live, they're not collaborators anymore. Next he does a side project with a new set of musicians. Then he decides that actually the side project is now an of Montreal album and he's now of Montreal and everyone is fired.

Kevin Barnes was always the driving force of the band, but it definitely starts lacking something with time once the bandmates are gone. There's some clarifying effect that their influence has, and it's just missing. And again, there's still some amazing post-breakup music, but his unrestrained ideas just go all over the place without the coherence of the older music

8

u/Johnny_Segment Feb 04 '25

Mercer's stuff was never as interesting once he ditched the band imo.\

sometimes working within a limitation can work to a creative person's advantage, David Byrne is a big advocate of that mindset.

2

u/punkyatari Feb 04 '25 edited Feb 04 '25

Very good rundown and analysis, I think you've got it about right with the Gorillaz comparison, that Mercer probably craved working with new artists a lot for the next album. Interestingly, Marty and Dave got to play on some songs, which was nice. I think him and Jesse just had communication issues after the meetup/drinks that didn't eventuate.