HYPED to the hills over the Pond, The Shins' stunning second album delivers a hefty boot just above the ankles to sceptics desperate to burst their pristine pop bubble.
Already propelled by rave reviews for their debut, the quirky Albuquerque foursome have delivered another dead-cert winner. Flipping between genres like a psychotic seal, Chutes Too Narrow is a towering country, college pop, folk, new-wave 35-minute tour-de-force.
Opener Kissing The Lipless echoes Smile-era Brian Wilson in its harmonic dexterity, Mine's Not A High Horse boasts a melodious shuffle to make Belle And Sebastian blush, while standout Saint Simon jauntily apes Killer Queen before taking an early morning walk with Squeeze and early Elvis Costello. Fiercely intelligent and lyrically baffling, The Shins are steeped in the warm glow of the Sixties yet still sound contemporary.
Updated: 11:52 Thursday, March 18, 2004
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