May 6, 2009 17:59

Modest Mouse drummer joins The Shins

James Mercer explains new lineup

Modest Mouse drummer Joe Plummer has replaced Jesse Sandoval in The Shins, as part of a shuffle in the lineup of the band.

Keyboardist Marty Crandall is also out of the band, while Fruit Bats man Ron Lewis has joined on bass.

In an interview with Pitchfork, Shins main man James Mercer revealed that he felt it was time to shuffle the lineup after playing with both Crandall and Sandoval since the mid-nineties.

"I started to have production ideas that I wanted to do that basically required some other people. It's mainly about that. It's an aesthetic decision. It's kind of hard to talk abut stuff like that, isn't it? Because I don't want to bum anybody out. I'm on good terms with those guys, I hope to maintain that. I wouldn't say I'd never work with them again. I love working with those guys," he says.

The new members will work with The Shins on the band’s next album, as well as their current tour.

The album will be released via Mercer’s own record label, Aural Apothecary next year.

--By our New York staff.
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