Since I've only heard a couple of songs from last year's solid debut, Oh, Inverted World, this review will be free of any mentions of "sophomore slumps." Chutes Too Narrow deserves better than that. The album completely shatters this notion to the point that it doesn't deserve recognition. That said, the entire album feels like a soundtrack to some wonderful dream, yielding melodies, harmonies and vocals that bless the sky and the ground, and the entire experience makes you happy to be alive.
I stand by a firm belief that second tracks (not songs that follow intros) are almost always one of the weakest on the album. Bands obviously want to pick a strong song to start with, and the second track suffers because of this. I could cite hundreds of examples, and that would just be 80% of my record collection alone. I have to yet to know if this album fulfills the same prophecy. "Kissing the Lipless" is an incredible opener, building from simple handclaps and strumming to a slingshot of chorus and verse that sends you careening through the heavens. The song ends, sending you crashing to the ground, then "Mine's Not a High Horse" sends you right back up again.
The entire album feels this way. Highlights along the way include the first single, "So Says I," which rivals few tracks, including "Lipless," as the best showcase of Jamie Mercer's range, "Saint Simon," which sounds like a gem that somehow ended up on the cutting room floor instead of making it into Pet Sounds. Much like "Range Life" is one of, if not my favorite Pavement song, "Gone for Good," the typically atypical "country track" on this indie album, is one of the most rewarding tracks, featuring what is easily the best chorus on the entire thing. This is also another great exhibit of Mercer's voice, but I guess it all boils down to my being a sucker for pedal steel.
After being slightly impressed with some of the tracks from Oh, Inverted World, I would call you insane if you said I would eventually hold their next offering, including the second track, in the highest regard, setting aside a definite spot on a list of 2003's best albums for Chutes Too Narrow.
