New Shins News

http://pitchfork.com/news/35257-shins-james-mercer-spills-about-lineup-changes-new-album-other-projects/

Be sure to click "MORE>>>" at the bottom of the article.

I'm worried. Mercer has completely changed the line-up and replaced everybody, and now he's saying he's changing his style. The reason I think he's such a great songwriter is because you'd hear some upbeat songs but once you actually take the time to really listen to it, you realize it's actually melancholy. Now he's saying they're going to really be upbeat. What's the point?

So, say what you will, but I think the next Shins album will not sound like the Shins. He claims this is his "best work." I take that to mean it's different from his previous work, which, for me at least, is not good.

A couple of my friends had this to say:
Andrew: I hate line-up changes in general (because they're rarely changes for the better (Coheed & Cambria, Wolfmother, etc...)), so that's rather disappointing. The Modest Mouse drummer is promising, but still just seems really foolish. I like the guy, but Mercer has no reason for doing this...seems like he's forcing an "epic change album" or something, just trying different things to get attention and see if something good will come of it...Almost every time that a band member leaves other bands its because they hate each other or one wants to pursue a solo career. I guess Mercer wanted to go "solo" and keep the band name? Selfish...(Wolfmother?)

As for the less melancholy stuff, I'm not too worried about that. When I think upbeat I think Franz Ferdinand, and that's not a bad thing. I don't think we should label all change as bad. If my theory is at all correct and he's just doing it in hopes of catching people's attention, it could be bad.

And it's a little unnerving what he says about the possible label change..."Because you get more money"... I understand that making money is an issue for everyone, but really? Maybe he's not familiar with the negative connotations of selling out...

Arseny: I guess you can't blame a guy for being happy with life. It would be funny if he flipped the Shins lyric mechanic on his head and started playing heavy metal with really upbeat lyrics
And, I guess in the end... no matter how well crafted the songs might be, I know that at least I always regard upbeat-song bands as sort of... silly? I guess, I just don't take them very seriously. Like The Killers. I like some of their songs, but no matter how hard they try to be a serious band I just think they are sort of... silly. Same with Franz Ferdinand. I like them, but still, they seem a bit un-serious. I just can't take them seriously.
All this comes with a disclaimer, though. I mean, it's pretty glaring, the Beatles are definetely an upbeat band and yet I love them. But the song craftsmanship was so good that it didn't seem silly.