The Shins are everywhere. This might be because I live in Portland, where they relocated to. It might be because they are on Subpop, a label that has the money to promote the hell out of their bands. And it may be because their new album, Chutes Too Narrow, follows the current trend of throwing back to 70's and 80's rock.

Too bad they forgot to write some good tunes, or this album might have been quite good.

Though littered with comfortable, nostalgic rhythms, CTN falls way short of the mark, mostly due to the fact that the structure of most of the songs is the continuous repetition of said rhythms. In fact, if it wasn't for the vocals, which are actually quite good, I would have fallen asleep listening to this record. I mean, it is boring. BORING. I don't know how it is getting such good press; it's not god awful, but it's nowhere near as good as all the other records that it sounds like. Still, there is some creativity and risk taking at work here, it just needs a few years of development to get anywhere.

Overall, I was left with the feeling that The Shins may be one of those bands that will eventually blow my mind, but this record doesn't even come close.

-Dave Mandell