Yeah, these boys have some serious communication issues. James could have been more open when the band was still together, but if he's trying to reach out through text or email and that's not good enough for Jesse, Jess should tell him that. Speak up. Don't just ignore him. That's why you folks are in this situation, it seems.

Also, I just wanna say that, to me, it isn't really The Shins anymore. First time I saw them, Neil was still in the band, Marty was playing a Casio through a Boss delay pedal and James was playing an old Sears-Roebuck guitar that he must've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in to makes sound as awesome as it did. That band was about all that. It wasn't all about James.

Last time I saw them, however, they were trying to be an arena rock band or something. I couldn't make anything out through their wall of noise. I left in the middle of the encore and couldn't even begin to make out what song they were playing until I was at the end of the parking lot.

Just wasn't the same band I used to love.

well, bands change, evolve, get louder, quieter, etc...
thats too bad they arent that band you used to love.
the first time I saw them was BEFORE neal was in the band...with the original (chutes) lineup at a house party in albuquerque.
they were awesome, low fi neutral milk hotel/pavement rock. but they were mercers band then, and they are mercers band now, playing mercers music. and i think they still rule.

it sucks when we get so attached to bands that we become "friends" with the actual members, and invest ourselves emotionally into their lives....in our imaginations. anyone that has ever been in a band knows how crazy it is, and how no one outside will ever understand the inner dynamics of the group. and yet you have fans outside of the circle second guessing and placing judgements on everything from a band member getting not enough spotlights on stage to the guitar being too loud on a recording.

they believe they are inside this world, and that is simply not the case. the band is the band, acting on their own. and nothing is ever as it seems.

kc-(the first comment here) your bad experience at their last show could be due to anything from a lousy sound system to a bad mood on stage. i was at the show and saw a loud show as well, but also a very heartfelt and joyous performance of old classic shins songs.

also keep in mind this was the SECOND SHOW EVER with this lineup (assuming you saw them at the crystal). youtube later performances on that tour....they definitely got a lot more comfortable as time passed.

fuck man, give them a break. they arent old college buddies of yours that you used to live with that owe you back rent....they are a band. just a band. and james mercer is just a musician trying to write music while being surrounded by people in and out of the band that felt he owed them the world.

its for the best.

yeah i'm with you on alot of your points. they arent even my favorite band. its so weird how much emotion any sudden news with these guys elicits in their fanbase. i guess being that big is a blessing and a curse.

i dont know everything, and i dont know them that well, but i am kind of in a closer circle to them than some. what little i do know about this is that the removal of crandall and sandoval was a long time coming, and apparently there is more than meets the eye to it. what exactly, though, i have no idea and wouldnt dare to guess.

i also read this article with a grain of salt considering ezras apparent need to slightly angle this whole incident against mercer, (just from previous writings). the scorned and betrayed ex-bandmate is a much better read than the guy who repeatedly messed up and got what was coming to him. again, i think the real story is alot juicier than what has been printed. sandoval is very correct in admitting that mercer went out of his way to soften the blow in the press to keep from embarrassing his friends. "aesthetic reasons" is much nicer than alot of other phrases. just sayin.

and frankly, sandoval admitting that mercer has tried time and again to contact him and make nice but he's just ignored him is a pretty honest and telling statement about the dynamics of their friendship.

his drumming? never had a problem with it. it was never the focal point. and frankly because of that wont be missed. i actually think "mines not a high horse" was the best drumming he's ever put to tape....and thats on the record you think tanked. but taste is relative. OIW is a classic and perfect record that wasnt supposed to be eternal, but accidentally became legendary. i'd imagine that its a pretty disorienting feeling trying to live up to accidental genius.

classy, jesse. really classy.
in one move you've...
admitted that james has tried to be cool about all of this but that you've ignored him, despite the fact that you see how torn up about it he is....

pretended that a visit from management was an unusual sign that something cold and scary and legal was coming, when i think visits were not only commonplace, but regularly social as well as work related. (didnt you contact management regularly more than anybody else in that band?)...

spelled out how important it is that this interview is out there so people will stop talking about it and drop everything when in actuality you know exactly what kind of shitstorm this would create again for your old "friends"...

acted confused and hurt about your noble pursuit of learning drumlines not being appreciated, despite the fact that not touching a drumstick for over a year if there wasnt band work happening was a regular practice with you. you had a "slower learning curve than polished musicians"? dude you almost went out of your way to forget how to play drums...

you outed the details of mercers new side-project before it was officially announced. wow....

apparently you are mostly angry about the meeting/BBQ/catching up on the days when you were essentially a manager (???) not happening-yet you conveniently neglect to say why that meeting never occurred...

you just made it official that you wont work with mercer ever again even though he said he'd like to at some point. hope you dont regret that little one. will you also, again out of principle, get rid of everything in your life, including your house and this taco truck, that being a member of james's band afforded you? will you also return every check sent to you from now on from record sales and merch? checks that will continue to be made out to you as long as ANYONE buys something with "the shins" attatched to it? you know-since james is such a bastard?

the neal comparison? are you for real?

anyone that knows you, really knows you, and knows exactly whats going on here, knows what a funny article this is.
everyone else...well i hope they just let you make tacos in peace for once and stop constantly pestering you for autographs and instead listen to your message of "hey man just leave my buddy james alone...and for HEAVENS SAKE dont stop buying shins records or anything!!! cant we all just get along???"

you are a real class act.

Your right about there being more to it than meets the eye. Crandal and Sandoval were fired because they both have substance abuse problems and James got sick of babysitting them. Its too bad, they were a talented bunch. Booze and cocaine are the real culprits here.

The truly sad thing is that the Broken Bells work is so forgettable. Danger Mouse has done some good work, some completely mediocre, some just bad. Broken Bells can be described in one word: "meh".

And enough with the 'substance abuse' lies. People with substance abuse issues don't start small businesses. They aren't articulate speakers. And they utterly lack self-reflection.

Dude. What?
"People with substance abuse issues don't start small businesses. They aren't articulate speakers. And they utterly lack self-reflection."???
Are you from, like, permanent middle school land or something? Where the only images of addiction that occur to you are scary troglodytes and zombie cannibals? Are you freaking serious?

You are sitting there actually saying that you've been to, i dont know... parties... around, I dont know....Portland... and you have only met two kinds of people: well spoken small business owners that know how to talk about themselves endlessly-who DONT do drugs.....and crazed homeless rapists that cant form sentences, hold down jobs, and cant, as you say, "self reflect"-who DO do drugs. And never the twain shall meet?

You dont have to be Pete Doherty to be an addict. Addiction exists in functional families, ivy league schools, small businesses, big businesses, and everywhere in between.

It is wonderful that Sandoval has found a happy place in his food making.

This fact however does absolutely NOTHING to contradict the allegations of WHATEVER he was doing while in The Shins years ago.

In order to proclaim these allegations as "lies" one needs proof. You have none.
What you do have, however, is a remarkably short-sighted and naive idea of not only substance abuse, but of the music press. Your opinions spring from random interviews (which are consistently edited, slanted, and misquoted....with any band. thats just how it is.) and hearsay, which in this town is remarkably anti-James Mercer.

Unless of course, you have been Sandovals close friend for more than a few years. Have you? Speak up! No? Then really-shut the hell up with these broad sweeping concrete defenses of Sandoval. You have no idea what you are talking about really, do you?

Me? I dont know the guy. Or really care about either band (I'm an adult). I'm just up late with insomnia trolling the old message boards partaking in my favorite form of counting sheep: calling out idiots.


And did it ever occur to you that Broken Bells were SUPPOSED to be "forgettable"? As in "really trying to be as far away from 'New Slang' as possible"? As in "making people like you forget about them, while normal music fans appreciate them"?
"Meh" indeed.

And wow. did you really post this on New Years Eve Night? Jesus, get a life.

I saw a live performance of the new "Shins". It just didn't seem like the Shins. Reminds me of Roger Waters without Pink Floyd... Still good (Waters is a master), but not Pink Floyd. And Pink Floyd without Roger Waters...still pretty dang good, but not the absolute shit that PINK FLOYD was. Just goes to show that a band is made up of all of its members, and each one is important to the character of said band, Even if some of them are mediocre.

I read a book once about creativity, called "The Power of Limits". It speaks of how limits can be liberating in the creative process because then you're not lost in an infinity of possibilities about what you can do. You work with what you have and put all of your passion into it. Sometimes the best work comes from this. The Shins in my opinion included Jesse... and their sound was dependent on what he could and couldn't do, mixed with the abilities and limits of each of the other members. Somehow, a certain magic arose from this group of "old buddies" that was the distinctive sound of the Shins, certainly spearheaded by James Mercer, but not his alone to claim ownership of. Such magic cannot be manufactured. It is probably just dead now. I highly doubt that the new version of The Shins, or any other new band that any of these people get involved in will have such a hauntingly nostalgic, psychadellic-pop, emotional-chord-striking quality...such a trademark uniqueness that stands out. I am sad to see the breakup of this great band.

When we are kids, we tolerate the failings of our friends, on a deeply loyal level, as adults, we become achievers, so sure of our direction, and don't let anything get in our way, not even friends. But then we no longer have any real friends and somewhere in the back of our hearts we feel pain about having lost touch with some magic somewhere.

I think Mercer's new band should be called something else, and I do look forward to hearing more of how it sounds. He is a great singer, musician, and songwriter.