The Shins are Back

In light of yesterday's McCarren Park Pool show, I have for you some updates on the new Shins album. Entitled Wincing the Night Away, we can expect the record to come out sometime around January 2007. That's only if we can all take a moment to cross our fingers.

They are currently mixing their third album, and seem intent on releasing nothing less than a perfect followup to Chutes Too Narrow. We can only wait and see but I have high expectations.

We've got audio clips of three new songs expected to be on Wincing the Night Away from their show at the historic Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA, with Belle and Sebastian on July 6, 2006:

1. Circus Walk
2. Phantom
3. Australia

Unfortunate Weezer News

According to Weezer's PSA on their official website, the band has no plans of breaking up: "Now please, take those 'Weezer split?' headlines and place them firmly into the 'Don't believe the hype' bin. And have yourself a fine afternoon now."

Just when you thought Weezer was smarter than their last few albums might suggest, they go and screw it all up again. The man behind the band, Rivers Cuomo, had it right awhile back when he decided the band would be on 'indefinite hiatus.' Their music began suffering a long time ago, but at least they had the decency to abort, or at least discuss aborting, their overgrown baby. We never wanted to see them outgrow the minor majesty of their first two records, but they did and they continue to drown themselves in the decomposing placenta of the healthy young one that was the Blue Album. Weezer has become a small market machine for pre-teens with a penchant for nutmeg inhalation, and it's a sad state to see the band convince themselves its worth carrying the trend forward (or backward, depending on how you look at it.)

For the last Weezer post Click Here