Label: Sub Pop Records

Release Date: October 21, 2003

Website: www.darkcoupon.com

The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow
Joel Atkinson

New Mexico's best offbeat pop/rock band is back! Two years after thrilling the music world with Oh, Inverted World, their homage to psychedelia, they return with Chutes Too Narrow, a more subdued affair.

The album opens with a trio of great songs. First, the wittily titled "Kissing the Lipless." The song is a slow builder, starting with James Mercer's vocals and an acoustic guitar, joined by stabs of electric guitar before building into an intense chorus. It's an interesting way to start the album. One of the highlights of the album is "Mine's Not a High Horse." Like "One by One All Day" and "The Celibate Life" from their debut album, this tune has that rat-a-tat-tat drumming that I can't adequately explain because I don't know much about drums. But anyhow, it's an excellent song with a cool rising keyboard line in the chorus. The third song (and quasi-single) is the rollicking "So Says I," featuring some niiice organ. It's a good song.

Other highlights include the gorgeous "la-da-da-daas" of "Saint Simon" (I love how this song changes from a minor key in the verse to a major key in the da-da-da section), the fun "bum-bum-bumms" of "Fighting In a Sack," and the rocking "Turn A Square", which features the best line of 2003: "A glimpse of an ankle and I / react like it's 1805."

The songwriting on Chutes Too Narrow is more mature than on Oh, Inverted World. There aren't any throwaway gags like "Your Algebra." It does, however, match its predecessor with a slightly boring acoustic closing song.

In closing, this is a great album. I could say more, but, so far, I have successfully masked the fact that I can't figure out what this band's influences are, and I'm not about to...oh crap.

posted 1.19.04

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Joel Atkinson is not Stephin Merrit, but he does own a ukulele. He'll sing you love songs at theicecreamsocial@yahoo.com

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