Chutes Too Narrow
| Chutes Too Narrow | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
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| Studio album by The Shins | ||||
| Released | October 21, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | June–July 2003 James Mercer's basement (Portland, Oregon) Avast! Studios (Seattle, Washington) |
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| Genre |
Indie rock Indie pop |
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| Length | 33:50 | |||
| Label | Sub Pop | |||
| Producer | The Shins, Phil Ek | |||
| The Shins chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 88/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Alternative Press | 5/5 |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| The Guardian | |
| Mojo | |
| Pitchfork Media | 8.9/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | B |
| The Village Voice | A− |
Chutes Too Narrow is the second studio album by American rock band The Shins. Produced by Phil Ek and the band themselves, the album was released on October 21, 2003, through Sub Pop. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Young Pilgrims". The album was very well received by critics, garnering an overall score of 88/100 on Metacritic. According to Nielsen SoundScan, they have sold over 393,000 copies to date.
Chutes Too Narrow features cleaner production standards than the "lo-fi" Oh, Inverted World. This is largely due to the album's being mixed by producer Phil Ek, who has also worked with Built to Spill and Modest Mouse. Chutes Too Narrow also departs from the band's keyboard-driven debut and shifts towards more emphasis on guitars.
The album also included violin parts on "Saint Simon", played by Annemarie Ruljancich, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording Package. The cover art was designed by Jesse LeDoux. The songs "Gone for Good" and "Those To Come" were used in the 2004 film In Good Company. "Those to Come" was also used in the 2005 film Winter Passing.
In 2001, The Shins released their debut album, Oh, Inverted World. In an interview, Sebadoh guitarist (and Sub Pop labelmate) Jason Loewenstein slammed the band's "terrible, terrible music." Even the Shins' hometown alt weekly turned its back on them, running a bitter editorial titled "McShins, New Corporate Suck-ass" after the Inverted song "New Slang" turned up in a McDonald's TV spot.
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