The Shins, reconsidered

In 2003, my wife gave me two CDs for my birthday -- Fountains of Wayne's Welcome Interstate Managers and the Shins' Chute's Too Narrow. In my rush of discovering all of FOW's great songs, I unfairly neglected the Shins.

Wow. Yesterday, I loaded it up on my drive to work. A little late to the bandwagon, I know, but let me just rave a little about its mix of deconstructed Radiohead meets the Beatles, with its really cool altcoustic guitars -- and little mid 80s Robert Smith thrown in for good measure. This is what alternative music was supposed to be -- funny angles and twists, the constant joy of new surprises. One of my top ten for 2003. Sorry for the delay.

P.S. Clever CD liner booklet, too...

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