The Shins

It looks like a glamorous life, but we all know how much of a grind promoting a new album can be, so it's nice to see James Mercer and his latest lineup of the Shins taking the time to stop and have a laugh while they're out making the rounds for the just-released 'Port of Morrow.'

The lineup for the 2012 Osheaga Festival has been revealed, and it's chock full of Diffuser.fm-approved artists. The Black Keys, the Shins and Metric lead an impressive list that takes place this summer in Montreal, Canada.

Well, this should be interesting. According to a recent interview with NPR, James Mercer, the creative driving force behind the Shins, reveals that the band's new album 'Port of Morrow,' due in stores tomorrow (March 20), was inspired by Kraut rock.

As part of their Live from the Lot series, Google Music will stream a performance by the Shins from SXSW on YouTube Presents. The concert by the Portland-based band, held atop a parking garage in the so-called Live Music Capital of the World, will begin at 7:40 ET/6:40 CT.

Is the Shins' James Mercer the next Jim Carrey? Probably not, but Mercer appears in a new Funny or Die sketch -- his second this month -- in which the singer/songwriter plays every goofy character in the video, including both halves of a happy couple and an angry police officer.

The Shins hit the stage of 'Saturday Night Live' on, well ... Saturday night (March 10), touting a new lineup and a couple new songs from their forthcoming fourth studio album, 'Port of Morrow,' which drops March 20. This was the Shins' second appearance on 'SNL' -- the band had previously graced the stage of Studio 8H back in 2007 to perform then-new single 'Phantom Limb' and dust off their class

The Shins take a simple approach in their new video for 'Bait and Switch,' a clip that shows a performance of the song in the group's rehearsal space in Portland.