Shins Leave Sub Pop, Announce U.S. Dates

The Shins are reportedly working on new music, but the Portland, Ore. quartet won't be releasing the material via longtime label Sub Pop.

Shins manager Ian Montone told Billboard.com last summer that the band would release their next album through frontman James Mercer's Aural Apothecary label, but hinted there might still be a partnership Sub Pop.

The Shins were seeking a deal that would allow them to own their master recordings and, in conjunction with their own marketing tools, "team up with a label partner that will assist with additional marketing, radio, and various costs," Montone said.

"The deal will be more of a [pressing and distribution] deal than a traditional record deal," he said. "That partner could very well remain Sub Pop, who have done a remarkable job with the band and have a great staff of people who really love music.

"It could be a digital partner with respect to other rights. All of this is being determined. The first goal is to make the record and see where that takes us."

But Pitchfork.com reports that a Sub Pop representative says The Shins won't release their next record in conjunction with the label, which has issued all of their albums to date: 2001's Oh, Inverted World; 2003's Chutes Too Narrow; and 2007's Wincing The Night Away.

You can catch the band live when they head out on the road for a 14-date U.S. tour that starts in Bellingham, Wash. on May 2 and ends in New York City on May 18.

Here are The Shins' dates:

May 2 Bellingham, WA @ Red Square On Campus (Western Washington University)
May 4-5 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
May 6-7 Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom
May 9 Oakland, CA @ The Fox
May 10 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium
May 11 San Diego, CA @ Soma
May 13 Richmond, VA @ The National
May 14 Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
May 15 Baltimore, MD @ Ram's Head Live
May 16 Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
May 17 Wellmont, NJ @ Wellmont Theater
May 18 New York, NY @ Terminal 5