Album: Chutes Too Narrow
Artist: The Shins
Born: Albuquerque, New Mexico
Released: October 2003
Genre: Indie Pop
My introduction to the music of The Shins was watching the 2004 film, Garden State, starring Natalie Portman and Zach Braff, who also wrote and directed it. The song used to brilliant effect was New Slang, which had already become an underground hit, as one of the key songs on their debut LP Oh, Inverted World, released in 2001. I love New Slang's video, which pays homage to many of the great US indie records -- like The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime, Slint's Spiderland, etc -- by trying to recreate their front covers. I often think of the group as the American equivalent to Belle & Sebastian, with James Mercer's songs sharing the same cultivated but unpretentious lyrics. Like B&S, there's not much difference in the quality of The Shins' first two albums, but I prefer the slightly more polished and focused feel of Chutes Too Narrow. I also think it has better songs, including album opener Kissing The Lipless. Like many Shins compositions, it's largely acoustic-based but with a complex structure, which builds to a rousing chorus that marks a shift in style compared to the first album. Mercer's songwriting is brilliant too, with "kissing the lipless" a great metaphor for unrequited love, while the concise couplet, "And secretly, I want to bury in the yard / the grey remains of a friendship scarred", reveals his anguish at a relationship coming to an end.
Such was the fervour among the music press for The Shins that they even drew comparisons with The Beach Boys in some quarters. In the stunning harmonies of the album's first single, So Says I, you can definitely see the source of this acclaim. As ever, the song's jaunty feel belies darker themes in the lyrics, in this case how the idealism of a youthful relationship was broken by the realities of modern life ("Our lust for life had gone away with the rent we hated"). One of my favourite tracks on the record is Young Pilgrims, the lyrics some of the most personal and autobiographical that Mercer's ever written, especially his way of describing his self-destructive urges ("'Cause I know there is this side of me / that wants to grab the yoke from the pilot / and just fly the whole mess into the sea"). For anyone who's had to repress an urge to jump out of a speeding car or off a tall building, it feels familiar. Saint Simon is a lovely slice of melodic pop backed by baroque strings, with apathetic lyrics that are reminiscent of Nilsson at his peak. Gone For Good has a similar downtempo, eccentric feel. Fighting In A Sack is one of the more energetic songs on the record, and the flight of fancy in its lyrics and the ramshackle feel bears the influence of Neutral Milk Hotel. Pink Bullets and Turn A Square offer a similar balance between dreamy melodies and upbeat rock. Without doubt, Chutes Too Narrow was one of the high water marks in the surging tide of North American indie in the early 21st century.
My introduction to the music of The Shins was watching the 2004 film, Garden State, starring Natalie Portman and Zach Braff, who also wrote and directed it. The song used to brilliant effect was New Slang, which had already become an underground hit, as one of the key songs on their debut LP Oh, Inverted World, released in 2001. I love New Slang's video, which pays homage to many of the great US indie records -- like The Minutemen's Double Nickels On The Dime, Slint's Spiderland, etc -- by trying to recreate their front covers. I often think of the group as the American equivalent to Belle & Sebastian, with James Mercer's songs sharing the same cultivated but unpretentious lyrics. Like B&S, there's not much difference in the quality of The Shins' first two albums, but I prefer the slightly more polished and focused feel of Chutes Too Narrow. I also think it has better songs, including album opener Kissing The Lipless. Like many Shins compositions, it's largely acoustic-based but with a complex structure, which builds to a rousing chorus that marks a shift in style compared to the first album. Mercer's songwriting is brilliant too, with "kissing the lipless" a great metaphor for unrequited love, while the concise couplet, "And secretly, I want to bury in the yard / the grey remains of a friendship scarred", reveals his anguish at a relationship coming to an end.
Such was the fervour among the music press for The Shins that they even drew comparisons with The Beach Boys in some quarters. In the stunning harmonies of the album's first single, So Says I, you can definitely see the source of this acclaim. As ever, the song's jaunty feel belies darker themes in the lyrics, in this case how the idealism of a youthful relationship was broken by the realities of modern life ("Our lust for life had gone away with the rent we hated"). One of my favourite tracks on the record is Young Pilgrims, the lyrics some of the most personal and autobiographical that Mercer's ever written, especially his way of describing his self-destructive urges ("'Cause I know there is this side of me / that wants to grab the yoke from the pilot / and just fly the whole mess into the sea"). For anyone who's had to repress an urge to jump out of a speeding car or off a tall building, it feels familiar. Saint Simon is a lovely slice of melodic pop backed by baroque strings, with apathetic lyrics that are reminiscent of Nilsson at his peak. Gone For Good has a similar downtempo, eccentric feel. Fighting In A Sack is one of the more energetic songs on the record, and the flight of fancy in its lyrics and the ramshackle feel bears the influence of Neutral Milk Hotel. Pink Bullets and Turn A Square offer a similar balance between dreamy melodies and upbeat rock. Without doubt, Chutes Too Narrow was one of the high water marks in the surging tide of North American indie in the early 21st century.
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