1996–2000: Early years ,
New Mexico. The Shins was formed in 1996 by James Mercer, a member of the band Flake Music in
Albuquerque,
New Mexico. Flake Music (formerly known simply as Flake) consisted of members guitarist/vocalist James Mercer, drummer Jesse Sandoval, keyboardist Martin Crandall, and bassist Neal Langford. They began performing as a duo alongside
Cibo Matto and
the American Analog Set. Friends of the band, including Zeke Howard from Love As Laughter and
Isaac Brock from
Modest Mouse sent record labels
cassette demos of the band's songs. Mercer sent a demo to
Sub Pop Records in
Seattle, Washington, and label co-founder
Jonathan Poneman caught a concert in
San Francisco while the band was on tour with Modest Mouse. Positive press for "New Slang" made the group's debut album one of the most anticipated
indie rock albums of 2001, and Sub Pop signed the band in full. The album helped re-establish Sub Pop Records as a dominant force in the independent community; the label had been without a marquee artist for many of the prior years. The group spent the rest of the year touring with acts such as Preston School of Industry and Red House Painters. "
New Slang" proved to be a "stealth hit", helping
Oh, Inverted World move over 100,000 copies within two years, considered remarkable for an independent label; Sub Pop had hoped the record would sell 10,000 copies. The song was featured in a
McDonald's advert that aired during the
2002 Winter Olympics, which led to criticism from several corners, among those independent music fans and the band's own hometown
alt weekly. The
royalties Mercer earned from the commercial allowed him to purchase a home and relocate to
Portland,
Oregon, where the group built a basement studio and recorded their second album,
Chutes Too Narrow (2003). During this period, the group replaced Langford on bass with Dave Hernandez (from Scared of Chaka). Although recording in the basement was less than pleasant, the band found it "cheaper than a real studio". It also became their first album to chart, peaking at number 86 on the
Billboard 200. The band extended their tour in support of the song and its popularity.
2008–2013: Line-up change and Port of Morrow Having worked on The Shins for nearly a decade, Mercer felt exhausted and ready to quit the band. "Mainly I was tired of being right in the middle and everything sort of revolving around me, including the friendship dynamics-slash-bandmate dynamics and the creative aspect", Mercer explained in 2012. Mercer began touring with an all new backing band, including fellow songwriters
Jessica Dobson and
Richard Swift, Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer, and Yuuki Matthews from the Crystal Skulls. and lead single "
Simple Song" represented the band's best chart performance, peaking within the top 10 on the US
Alternative Songs chart.
2014–present: Heartworms and recent events In 2014, The Shins recorded and released a new song, "So Now What", for the soundtrack of
Wish I Was Here (directed by Zach Braff of
Garden State). Mercer noted to
Billboard that he was immensely proud of how the track came out: "I think it's one of the best things I've ever done." That November, a reissue of Flake Music's first album, ''
When You Land Here, It's Time to Return'', was released. In 2016, the group recorded a cover of
the Beatles' "
The Word" for the
Netflix show
Beat Bugs. During this time, Mercer was at work on the band's fifth album, which he felt was closer in sound to the Shins' earlier work than
Port of Morrow: "I made a concerted effort on certain songs to fit the palette, to use the palette that I've used historically for the band." Mercer announced the new Shins album,
Heartworms, in January; it was released on March 10, 2017. Former band member Richard Swift died on July 3, 2018. He was admitted to the hospital in June for hepatitis. September 24, 2020 saw the release of a new single titled "The Great Divide". In April 2021, a 20th anniversary reissue of
Oh, Inverted World was announced for release on June 11, 2021. The reissue was remastered by
Bob Ludwig, with Mercer serving as an assistant. A "21st birthday" tour of North America was announced in May 2022, where The Shins played
Oh Inverted World in its entirety. Former bassist Neal Langford, who played on
Oh Inverted World and in Flake Music with Mercer, died on July 21, 2023, at the age of 50. Mercer announced his death on July 27, describing him in a post to social media as "one of the best friends I've ever had". ==Musical style and influences==