Chutes Too Narrow

Chutes Too Narrow
Studio album by The Shins
Released	October 21, 2003
Recorded	June–July 2003 in James' Basement and Avast! Studios
Genre	Indie rock, indie pop
Length	33:50
Label	Sub Pop
Producer	The Shins, Phil Ek
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Blender link Pitchfork (8.9/10) 10/21/2003 PopMatters (favorable) 10/20/2003 Robert Christgau (A-) link Rolling Stone 11/13/2003
The Shins chronology
Oh, Inverted World (2001) Chutes Too Narrow (2003) Wincing the Night Away (2007)
Alternate cover
LP cover artwork

Chutes Too Narrow is The Shins' 2003 follow-up to their debut album, Oh, Inverted World. The album title comes from a lyric in the song "Young Pilgrims." The album was generally 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, largely due to the album's being mixed by producer Phil Ek, who 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.

Track listing

All songs written by James Mercer.

1. "Kissing the Lipless" – 3:19
2. "Mine's Not a High Horse" – 3:20
3. "So Says I" – 2:48
4. "Young Pilgrims" – 2:47
5. "Saint Simon" – 4:25
6. "Fighting in a Sack" – 2:26
7. "Pink Bullets" – 3:53
8. "Turn a Square" – 3:11
9. "Gone for Good" ("A Call to Apathy" on some releases) – 3:13
10. "Those to Come" – 4:24