FootColumn: "The Sound" or "Mess of Me"? Switchfoot deciding on lead single.

Well, this sort of counts as a FootColumn, although it is also a bit of a news post. Up to you to decide. ;)

Following on the heels of news that "Hello Hurricane" has been pushed back to early November, we have received word that the lead single is now somewhat undecided. Jeanna from LOBH says that she has been in contact with Jon Foreman and Tim Foreman, who seem to be saying that "Mess of Me" and "The Sound" are the two singles currently in contention.

When Tim and I talked about the this subject a few days ago, he said they were thinking of The Sound as the second single but nothing was concrete yet. Then yesterday, Jon said that they were going between The Sound and Mess of Me, but it was PROBABLY going to be Mess of Me

(SOURCE)

This complicates things, slightly. Switchfoot.com has an updated splash page, based on all the new information Tim gave us in his official message boards post. However, it still does say "Mess of Me" will be the lead single.

In the end, "Mess of Me" will probably win out as the lead single anyways, since it's already been decided in advance. "The Sound" would make an excellent second single, as it has the ability to really capture the rock crowd with its Radiohead-esque opening riff and fist-pumping chorus.

My question is whether the impact radio date for "Mess of Me" will be pushed back because of this, and whether or not it will affect distribution of the single to radio stations. As of right now, "Mess of Me" is scheduled to go to radio on August 5th, which is tomorrow, with rumors that pre-orders for "Hello Hurricane" begin August 7th, but none of that is concrete or certain at this point.

Also, Tim mentioned that they are still looking at several different record distribution companies to get the album out to as large a platform as possible, so they're probably choosing very carefully what to do with that.

So, thoughts?