Chutes Too Narrow is The Shins'

The Shins

The Shins are an American indie rock band comprising singer, songwriter, and guitarist James Mercer, guitarist/bassist Dave Hernandez, Eric Johnson of Fruit Bats, drummer Joe Plummer and bassist Ron Lewis. Their sound draws on several musical genres, including pop, alternative rock, indie rock,...

 2003 follow-up to their debut album, Oh, Inverted World

Oh, Inverted World

Oh, Inverted World is the first album by The Shins, released on June 19, 2001 to critical acclaim. Omnibus Records put out an initial run of vinyl distributed by Darla...

. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Young Pilgrims." The album was well-received by critics, garnering an overall score of 88/100 on Metacritic

Metacritic

Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

. According to Nielsen SoundScan

Nielsen SoundScan

Nielsen SoundScan is an information and sales tracking system created by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett. Soundscan is the official method of tracking sales of music and music video products throughout the United States and Canada...

, 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

Phil Ek

Phil Ek is an American record producer, engineer and mixer. Ek began his career in Seattle, Washington, in the early 1990s recording live sound in clubs. He then moved into studio recording, recording small projects and demos for local bands. Around this time, Ek was frequently working with...

, who has also worked with Built to Spill

Built to Spill

Built to Spill is an American indie rock band based in Boise, Idaho. The band has released seven full-length albums. Their most recent album, There Is No Enemy, was released on October 6, 2009.-History:...

 and Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy. They are based in Portland, Oregon. Since their 1996 debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think...

. 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

Grammy Award

A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...

 for Best Recording Package. The cover art was designed by Jesse LeDoux

Jesse LeDoux

Jesse LeDoux is a notable artist who has created album covers for many bands. LeDoux currently works out of his studio in Tokyo, Japan.-Some of Jesse LeDoux's album covers:*Dolour Waiting for a World War LP...

. The songs "Gone for Good" and "Those To Come" were used in the 2004

2004 in film

The year 2004 in film involved some significant events. Major releases of sequels took place. It included blockbuster films like Shrek 2, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, The Passion of the Christ, Meet the Fockers, Blade: Trinity, Spider-Man 2, Alien vs. Predator, Kill Bill Vol...

 film In Good Company. "Those To Come" was also used in the 2005

2005 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...

 film Winter Passing

Winter Passing

Winter Passing is a 2005 American drama film. It is the directorial debut of playwright Adam Rapp, also known for his work on the show The L Word. The film stars Zooey Deschanel and Ed Harris, with supporting performances by Will Ferrell and Amelia Warner...

.

Reception

Chutes Too Narrow placed on Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine

Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

's list of best albums of the 2000s at number 91 and Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

's at 46.

Track listing

All songs written by James Mercer

James Mercer (musician)

James Russell Mercer is an American guitarist and Alternative rock musician. He is a founding member and lead singer-songwriter of the Grammy-nominated indie rock group The Shins. In 2009, Mercer and producer Danger Mouse formed the side project Broken Bells, for which they released a...

.

1. "Kissing the Lipless" – 3:19
2. "Mine's Not a High Horse" – 3:20
3. "So Says I
   So Says I
   So Says I is a song by American indie rock band The Shins, the third track of their second album Chutes Too Narrow. It was released as a single, one of three from the album, on 21 September 2003 on Sub Pop Records....
   
   " – 2:48
4. "Young Pilgrims" – 2:47
5. "Saint Simon" – 4:25
6. "Fighting in a Sack
   Fighting in a Sack
   "Fighting in a Sack" is a song by American indie rock band The Shins, and is the sixth track on their second album Chutes Too Narrow. It was released as the second of two singles from that album, with the first being "So Says I".-Track listing:...
   
   " – 2:26
7. "Pink Bullets" – 3:53
8. "Turn a Square" – 3:11
9. "Gone for Good (A Call to Apathy)" – 3:13
10. "Those to Come" – 4:24
11. "Mild Child" (Japanese Bonus Track) - 4:29