Album Review #2a, b, c: Death Cab for Cutie

Something pretty cool is going to be happening tomorrow. I will hopefully be standing about 20 feet from Ben Gibbard, lead singer and master songwriter of the alt group Death Cab for Cutie. Hopefully, anyway, with my GA tickets. So to honor the occasion, here's a triple dip of mini-reviews from three DCFC albums...

(Sidebar: I resisted the temptation of using the phrase "killing two birds with one stone" to not sound hokey. But if you think about it, that's kind of a morbid phrase, eh? Killing birds with rocks? What philosophical genius came up with that one?)

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Transatlanticism (2003), by Death Cab for Cutie

I bought this album just 2 days ago in anticipation of the concert. At first I was disappointed, but it grew on me slowly. It's sort of been that way with all of their albums with me...I think it takes a few listens to appreciate the subtlety of what they do.

The overall mood of this album is pretty much summed up by the cover. Take one glance, and you plunge into mild depression. That's the thing about Transatlanticism: while the lyrics are meaningful and deep ("Your heart is a river that flows from your chest through every organ"), they're just as often depressing.

One of Death Cab's staples is the use of slowly developing, repetitive themes. The title track epitomizes this ability, and you see it in many other tracks as well. It's also amazing how you encounter thickly textured, highly instrumental sounds on one track ("Expo '86"), and then just a simple piano accompanying the vocals on another ("Passenger Seat").

Short version: good album, great music. Just doesn't have any especially high points.

Grade: B+

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Plans (2005), by Death Cab for Cutie

Plans was my first exposure to Death Cab. And boy do I love this one. Like its predecessor, sometimes it fools you into thinking it's positive, when in fact the lyrics are dark. "Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole / just like a faucet that leaks, and there is comfort in the sound ... Your love is going to drown." I mean, geez. Makes me want to jump on one of those velvet psychiatrist couches.

But really, pretty much all of the tracks on Plans demonstrate Gibbard's mastery over words. The metaphor in "Summer Skin" of a carefree summer relationship being lost after shedding sunburned layers of skin is brilliant. The sweetly expressed lyrics of "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" and the much darker "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" are signs of a gifted poet, too.

Musically, again, DCFC triumphs. The single resonating piano note at the end of "Marching Bands of Manhattan" punctuates a slowly developing, crescendoing theme. The popular "Soul Meets Body" (my brother has THE best story about this, but that's for another day) and "Crooked Teeth" are upbeat enough to keep you awake. It all just fits together so perfectly.

Short version: awesome lyrics, flawless music, the premium of alternative rock. If not for "Stable Song", the only weak point of this album, this just might've been perfect.

Grade: A

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Narrow Stairs (2008), by Death Cab for Cutie

I read a really interesting article on Ben Gibbard in Paste magazine about how he went to Bixby Canyon for inspiration when coming up with this album, the same place where Jack Kerouac went to write his novels. Thus, the name of the lead track, "Bixby Canyon Bridge." At 1:39 in, you're confronted with a sound that really departs from the previous albums...strong guitars with a reverberating voice. Then a slowly building pattern for the last 3 minutes of the song that's compounded with lots of what I will call Really Awesome Noise.

The single, "I Will Possess Your Heart", starts off with over four minutes of instrumental music, which unfortunately you will never hear on the radio, because I think it's the best part of the album. The rest of the song is a little too repetitive for my tastes, and just kinda sounds like a persistently creepy guy chasing a girl.

Unfortunately, the album peaks way too early. The rest of the album is adequately good (how pretentious of me, the guy who can barely play Chopsticks on a keyboard). Some of the songs just seem a little silly musically, like "Your New Twin-Sized Bed" and "You Can Do Better Than Me", compared to the accompanying lyrics. Maybe that's just irony?

Short version: a top-heavy album that, don't get me wrong, is still quite good.

Grade: B

Hopefully tomorrow's work day will be shorter than this blog, so that stage time will come quickly.