Chutes Too Narrow

The Shins are a band driven primarily by the musings of James Mercer.  Mercer grew up in a military family (his father was in the United States Air Force) who moved around frequently (he attended high school in England and Germany).  Mercer originally formed the Shins out of another band that he was a member, Flake Music, which was based out of New Mexico.  The Shins differed from Flake Music in that Mercer wanted to work on primarily three-minute pop songs with conventional chord structures.

Most of the original members have left or been replaced since they began back in 1997 with the exception of Mercer and bassist Dave Hernandez.  The Shins relocated to Portland, Oregon, and joined Sub Pop in 2001 and recorded three albums with Sub Pop—Oh, Inverted World (2001), Chutes Too Narrow (2003), and Wincing the Night Away (2007).  Chutes Too Narrow earned the band critical praise and also commercial success due to effects added to what they had done on Oh, Inverted World, including multi-layered lyrics and exploration into different song structures from the conventional ones previously used.  Chutes Too Narrow is the subject of this entry.

#43 – The Shins, Chutes Too Narrow (Metascore = 88)

Chutes Too Narrow opens with the poppy “Kissing the Lipless”, and right away you can tell the production is stronger than the Shins’ previous recordings.  All of the instruments are mixed very well; each instrument, from guitars to xylophone, is featured effectively throughout the tracks.  The album is filled with pop rock that ventures from driving acoustics to country-tinged guitar solos to pumping organ notes.

“So Says I” is an interesting song, with Mercer envisioning a world where the people are bound to the duty of living a boring life.  He sees the flaws in this system and tries to encourage his friends to rebel, only to realize that the “big ones eat all the little ones” and this exercise of rebellion is a boring idea.  “Young Pilgrim” provides us with the album’s title (“I fell into a winter slide/and ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow/just eking out my measly pies.”

“Saint Simon” is my favorite track.  The song features strings and a steady guitar riff while Mercer and the band sing lyrics that cascade over the music.  This is followed by the catchy single “Fighting in a Sack”.  The pacing throughout the album for the most part follows the quick tempos of songs like “Fighting in a Sack”.  There are a few slower songs (“Simon”, “Pink Bullets”), but even they are at least moderately paced.

I have heard this album a few times but never really appreciated its sound, pacing, or lyrics like I have this time.  In the past I didn’t really pay enough attention to the lyrics, but this time I have a better appreciation of what Mercer sings about.  Sticking in the pop rock realm (as he mostly has) seems to fit him and his writings the best.