Anna Minard claims to "know nothing about music." For this column, we force her to listen to random records by artists considered to be important by music nerds.

Chutes Too Narrow
(Sub Pop)

This is what I should have been listening to in high school instead of a bunch of weird mix CDs I made out of a combination of my parents' music collection, stuff I downloaded via LimeWire because I heard someone mention it, the songs that came for free on the first version of iTunes, and my own strange Top-40-turned-gross-rock CD binder thing. Those things are so poorly curated, they point to some sort of pathological cool-blindness. They make me feel sick with embarrassment. (Seriously: Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kid Rock, the Phantom of the Opera theme song, Fiona Apple, half the Romeo + Juliet soundtrack, Daft Punk, U2, and some off-brand mom-and-dad folksters, all on one CD? Sure, says 15-year-old me!) But now it's the future! And I don't go to Montessori school anymore! And I get to start over! YAY!

So let's listen to the Shins, so we can be like the kids in Garden State! (Ha-ha, sorry, I know you were hoping I wouldn't make that reference.) I listened to Chutes Too Narrow while getting ready for a big Fourth of July shindig, and it was bright and fast and fun. It starts with clapping and a "Woo!" Then it sounds like the cute boy from high school asked you out on a date, and you're driving around in his car on a sunny day. Later, you go to a party in someone's backyard that's lit with those little round Christmas lights. (But it looks like an indie movie, not a car commercial—get the filter right.) The overall mood of Chutes is of feeling young and vital and scared and adventurous. Fast strumming and cloud-sounding drums and harmonies.

The thing that actually took my breath away, though, is the last track, "Those to Come." I was reading a magazine when it came on, and I actually set it down in slow motion and just stared at the stereo, breathed along with the song, smiled. It snuck up on me and filled me with FEEEELS. I wanted to go back or forward in time and have A Moment while listening to it. Making a nervous first breakfast with someone new? Road- tripping through a strange forest? We'll see.

Overall, finally listening to the Shins wasn't embarrassing at all; it was warm and wonderful. Well, the one embarrassing part was when I realized "Gone for Good" reminded me of this one song I really like that a friend put on a mix for me, and I had to hum it to myself over and over so I wouldn't forget it while I googled the lyrics, and then that song turned out to be "Simple Song." By the Shins. Oh, well!

I give this a "make-outs in the meadow" out of 10.