The Shins - Chutes Too Narrow on CD

Description

Chutes Too Narrow, the second album by American indie-rockers the Shins, isn't the defining moment that their debut was. But that's by no means a bad thing--in the US at least, O, Inverted World was almost universally lauded as one of the best albums of the new millennium. So expectations were almost unfairly high for Chutes Too Narrow, making another exceptional Shins album sound almost ordinary, but only by comparison. The Shins still manage to combine a timeless grasp of melody and songcraft with a thorougly modern willingness to experiment and a fair share of quirkiness--the end result is pitched somewhere between Steve Malkmus and Brian Wilson. Though the Shins are a band, Chutes Too Narrow sounds more like a singer-songwriter's album than its predecessor. Many of the sentiments here are deeply personal; often, the bruised, rambling lyrics sound in stark contrast to the sunny arrangements, infusing the whole thing with a sense of nervous giddiness. Indeed, album opener "Kissing the Lipless" starts with the mellow strum of an acoustic guitar, lulling the listener (and, presumably, the song's intended) into a false sense of security before singer James Mercer launches into a passionate tirade ("Secretly I want to bury in the yard / the grey remains of a friendship scarred"). Fans of modern American indie music, particularly Modest Mouse and Spoon, will find that there's much for them to enjoy here. --Robert Burrow Product Description This is the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut full-length, "Oh, Inverted World". With ten songs, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, the new record is a brief yet entirely scintillating glimpse at chiming, reflective, and perfectly skewed pop innovation. It's exactly what Shins fans are looking for and more.