A Curse for this Town: How the Shins Dumped Albuquerque

December 18, 2007

There are a few different ways you can get dumped. There’s the mutual way, which of course is never really mutual, but from which at least both parties can leave with their chins up. There’s the kindhearted dumping in which the dumpee is told how great he or she is and how it’s not his or her fault. And then there’s the cold, hard, never-want-to-see-your-ugly-ass-again kind of dumping, which is how James Mercer and Shins chose to break-up with Albuquerque.

I should say that I still like the Shins’ music. I concede that James Mercer is probably inching toward the musical genius category. And I admit that, after they sold “New Slang” to McDonald’s, I called them sellouts. It took me a good 20 listens to Chutes Too Narrow before Mercer finally convinced me that I was riding a high horse, drowning in holy water, and that it was not just okay, but maybe even noble, for him to make a living swimming in the muddy water of the music industry. He was right I was wrong.

Anyway, Albuquerque never really seemed to show up in Mercer’s lyrics—or it least not in any way that sounded good. And after they made it big, they didn’t play a show in Albuquerque for four years. Then, when they made the move to Portland, we began to hear some unkind words from Mercer. Although I can’t find it in print, I was told of one interview in which the interviewer asked Mercer what he missed about Burque, to which he responded something to the effect of “burning my hands on the steering wheel.”

Then there is this excerpt of an interview that Mercer gave to some British indie rag called Incendiary Magazine:

Seems like there are two main places in your life, Albuquerque, New Mexico and Portland, Oregon. Basically dry desert and rocky watery coast.

JM: I moved to Albuquerque the first time after elementary school. I spent elementary school in Germany, and then moved to New Mexico, my dad was in the Air Force. Went to middle school there, it’s a strange place. It’s a fairly hostile place, the geographical location is pretty but it is rough town. For me it is kind of home.

In an interview with Local Cut, a Portland local music website, Mercer was asked about why the Shins identified so strongly and so immediately with Portland:

But it seems like, even before, when you had just moved to Portland, people started calling the Shins a Portland band. There was a show you did at the Crystal Ballroom, and it seemed like you guys were really proud to link yourself to this city. Why do the Shins identify so strongly with being a Portland band?

JM: Well, what I feel is that I belong here. I moved around my whole life, so it’s difficult for me to say what home is. I lived in Albuquerque for 11 years after high school, so that’s probably as close as it would have been. But I feel so much more comfortable here, just the environment, the people, the common goals, the aesthetics of the people—I think we just share a lot…

In that same interview, Mercer added injury to insult by touting Portland’s Mexican food. And, compounding these negative comments was, and continues to be, the Shins’ failure to prop Burque in any meaningful way.

Here’s the thing. Albuquerque is rough. It can be hostile. And I’m sure that driving into Portland is like entering a warm bath. Robust coffee, happy homogeneous liberals all around, some weird kind of delicious food Mercer calls “Mexican,” zoning, water.

But, notwithstanding what I imagine to be Mercer’s transgeographic self-image, the Shins were not made in a vacuum. Albuquerque and its people helped make the Shins both by forming the personalities and tastes of the bandmembers, and, more tangibly, by introducing them to each other. Until the Shins figure out some way to represent their hometown, their Burque shows are always going to be the same: a big, faintly ashamed crowd watching a big, faintly ashamed band. Two exes bumping into each other after an ugly break-up.

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6 Responses to “A Curse for this Town: How the Shins Dumped Albuquerque”

Brad Reid said:

January 7th, 2008 at 5:03 pm

Thanks for compiling this info. I trolled the internet a few months ago to see what the Shins thought of Albuquerque and it is true that they don’t have much to say about Albuquerque. Seems like they basically think their music is too sophisticated for Albuquerque folk.

Neil Young’s “Albuquerque” has always been one of my favorites as far as capturing a little of the essence of Albuquerque.
Veritas said:

March 17th, 2008 at 9:24 pm

You may have forgiven the Shins, but I have not. Portland can have the Shins. It’s better this way; if any members of the Band go missing, the remaining ones can go to the band warehouse and grab a replacement band now that they sound like any Portland band.
Dave Hernandez said:

June 27th, 2008 at 2:00 pm

Hello. I’m in The Shins. I currently live in Seattle, but am an Albuquerque native. I went to Valley High school for 3 years, but graduated from Freedom High in ‘89. I still have lots of family and friends in the Duke City that I maintain contact with and visit. I’m not really trying to list my qualifications by saying all of this, I just wanted to lay some context.

This article popped up while I was googling some stuff for my little cousin up here. This isnt an angry rebuttal, and I wish there was a way I could write and have a response printed without just putting this in the comments section, but I’m not too computer savvy. I actually dont even know who wrote the piece. Hopefully this will be read, at least, by some readers.

The entire article is interesting and well put together and thought out. I wanted to first address the question posed towards the end…
“Until the Shins figure out some way to represent their hometown, their Burque shows are always going to be the same: a big, faintly ashamed crowd watching a big, faintly ashamed band.”…
It could be argued that our last show, at Popejoy, was, well represented by this statement. But heres the thing. We HAVE tried to figure out a way to represent our hometown. Over and over, again and again.
Despite what you, the writer, have heard (even though you cant seem to find it in print), we go out of our way to talk about how Albuquerque formed and shaped us. And yes, we also have talked about how rough Albuquerque is. But I challenge you to find one instance where we’ve placed any sort of “blame” on that dynamic for us leaving town. If anything, in interviews we have used that description as a point of pride, excitement, or just to color up an otherwise monotonous interview question about where we come from. Also, as a writer, I assume you are familiar with the concept of editing. My point? That in our career, we can count the number of articles and interviews where our statements have gone untouched and not taken out of context on one hand. The majority of our interviews go through a series of grinders, are chopped to pieces, then, apparently, placed back together in the most exciting way.
A perfect example: We were interviewed for Mojo Magazine a couple years back. It was a long, drawn-out day long job with the writer following us around trying to get “on the spot” weird and funny and provocative quotes. It ended at a dinner with booze flowing and guards dropped. I was asked by our interviewer about my childhood, and I opened up a couple of stories about my loving, but unusual early years, one being a story involving my mother exposing me to live music in bars at an early age. Fast forward a couple of months, and the issue comes out. We’re on tour, I get a call from my mom, and find out that my family is completely upset that she had dragged her toddler to a dangerous biker bar where I was placed in harms way. You guessed it-I never said any of that. It was pieced together to make the story juicier. This kind of stuff happens all the time.
The idea that a pretty sounding “nerd” band came from a dangerous city makes “good copy”. And every single time they bring it up, we always make sure to say something nice, like “but thats our home town” or “we love it there” or “it made us sound how we sound”. Why would they put that down, though? Thats boring.
James saying he misses burning his hands on the steering wheel? We all do! The sun never comes out up here! That was a serious, truthful, funny, but sincere statement!!! WTF?

I guess one of my issues with people in our hometown that get upset at us is how thin skinned they are. Its Albuquerque. Its a great town. Great cities are in a large part defined by residents coming and going, spreading its gifts around the world and bringing back things from far off lands. The idea that if a group leaves (even for good-I mean, SO WHAT that James mentioned he felt so comfortable in Portland? JEEZ!) that the city can only suffer…its provincial. Harmful. The people that look down on us and so many other removed natives for leaving make the awesome city that I brag about being from seem embarrassingly ill-equipped to deal with a global existence and identity.

I like to see the city as more mature, as being able to look at a concept like many of its residents spreading across the globe as a great thing. I’ve run into NM natives everywhere. In almost every country. We are a fearless, adventurous, globe trotting people. Do you have any idea how many places look at Green Chile (NEW MEXICO green chile) as a totally amazing delicacy, thanks purely to our travels?

Returning to my point, in the beginning of the article you insinuate that we left for Portland and never looked back and dropped completely out of contact with Albuquerque except for the occasional quote about how we hated the place, right? When we left, we kept in CONSTANT contact with our friends and family there. We were there at least 3 times a year. Each of us. Many of our friends moved, some to Portland. Many stayed. We kept in contact with all of them.
Now, did we send a big press release to the city? No. Tell me-what were we supposed to do? What couldve satisfied you? What will satisfy you?
I will say this. That due to a large amount of drama within the band 5 years ago, a private matter turned into a very public matter. That certain figures had the benefit of actually being able to have the ear of the Albuquerque bar scene every single day and night, for years. And that by the time we played a certain show, years ago, at the Sunshine, thanks to all of that, we were treated amazingly weird by many people that we were expecting to greet us with open arms. I will say that until this one show, we had nothing but the greatest excitement about returning to town to play. I will say that it was only after this jarring and hostile and confusing experience in our home town that we put off returning for a couple of years. Cause dude, trust me. That night was really, really, REALLY weird. And we were convinced that no one even wanted us to play there ever again.

We came back and played at the El Rey a while back. And, it was a wonderful experience. Very healing. We came back and played the Popejoy right away. It was a little more stiff. We are considering playing the Paolo Soleri in Santa Fe the next time we come. But hopefully, soon we will find the perfect venue for us in our hometown.

One last point.
Dude, the Pacific Northwest has AMAZING mexican food. Something you learn when you travel? My people are everywhere. And where theres Mexicans, theres AMAZING MEXICAN FOOD. Now, NEW Mexican is a different story. And theres a couple places, but of course nothing beats The Frontier, Durans Pharmacy, or Sadies, or ANY of the great New Mexican places there.
ANDY said:

July 27th, 2008 at 11:58 pm

what that really Dave from The Shins?
Aaron said:

August 4th, 2008 at 2:03 pm

Thanks for clearing that up Dave. I dont have anything particularly interesting to contribute, but I’ll jot down what I think for the sake of conversing with a member of my ‘2nd’ favorite band [tell Isaac I say hello ].

This is the first I have heard of The Shins holding any kind of grudge against Albuquerque. Even as I was reading it, I kept thinking that it seemed too lowbrow for a band that I felt was down to earth, frisky and optomistic. I imagine most fans would think that as well.

The line “A Curse for this Town” always seemed more a universal truth than a shot at any town in particular; A common destination for a wandering consciousness, or a lazy explanation for ones own misery. At any rate James (like Isaac) sometimes makes statements that don’t declare anything and only come togethor when joined with their counterpart.

Anyway man, keep rocking. You’re doing fantastic work, truly. If all goes according to plan I’ll be jammin’ with you guys in a few years.
Aaron said:

September 3rd, 2008 at 10:20 pm

http://www.alibi.com/index.php?story=18598&scn=music

[From an interview with Mercer.]

Do you have reservations about playing here?

We’ve been talking about it a lot. It definitely stands out to us, going back to town. I just hope people know how much we love Albuquerque and how excited we are to come back and play. We’re proud to be from Albuquerque.

Besides parents and friends, is there anything you miss about Burque?

The food. We have an understood rule that you’re not allowed to start talking about the Frontier or Los Cuates because it’s just too frustrating to hear when you live in the Northwest.