Think of a typical Volkswagen commercial: two dull characters casually dressed in Urban Outfitters discussing how their fire engine red Jetta ended up in a tree; it must be that turbo engine. But no one ever cares about the inane plots. It's always the catchy, unusual, slightly under-the-radar background music you can't get out of your head that actually sells Volkswagens.
With their sophomore release, Chutes Too Narrow, The Shins have invented an album that could launch an entire ad campaign. These 10 everlasting gobstoppers, full of indie-pop creativity, could sell decrepit 1985 Golfs to the Amish.
The Shins, hailing from an almost nonexistent music scene in Albuquerque, have had the good fortune of transcending their surroundings by creating an album full of underground appeal. Following the acclaim their first album Oh, Inverted World received, The Shins took a year-long hiatus in an effort to perfect the equation that brought them so much attention in the first place. Chutes Too Narrow is so simple and stripped down that the production of Phil Ek is barely noticeable, but maybe the mastery of the distinguished Modest Mouse and Built to Spill producer is his invisibility. By skillfully employing ethereal, star-scape arpeggios and lilting, orchestrated melodies, The Shins begin to sound like Polyphonic Spree and Nick Drake, other VW graduates. These melodies get stuck in your head to such an extent that other bands will be clamoring for amnesia.
Lyrically, Chutes Too Narrow drives down the way of nihilism. In "Saint Simon," easily the album's best song, guitar chords on staccato keep the beat while James Mercer's voice bemoans his undiscovered lack of meaning as he croons: "Since I don't have the time/ nor mind to figure out the nursery rhymes/ that helped us out in making sense of our lives." In line with this forlorn obsession with childhood, the album's design appears less like conventional music artwork and more like a children's book, complete with stickers and cutouts.
The Shins follow up with eclecticism nonexistent on their unvarying first release. This is the only flaw of the album: they spread themselves too thin trying to escape the monotony of Oh, Inverted World. "Those to Come," an alt-country ballad bleating the futility of love, lacks any semblance of not only The Shins, but the allure that the rest of the album exhibits. Being from New Mexico would normally afford this type of luxury, but when groups spend enough of a residency in Seattle, as The Shins have, they should ditch the tumbleweed twang and start singing in the rain.
Although they took a gratuitous detour through the country, The Shins have the ability to steer their Microbus back on course with an even better third album, to the delight of car buyers and music fans alike.
Spring Break
