Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs Album Review

Death Cab for Cutie’s latest release, Narrow Stairs, encapsulates a few of the aspects of Death Cab that I love (anecdotal lyrics and vocal arrangements, progressive drums and timing), but ultimately comes up short in comparison to their previous records.

Narrow Stairs triumphs with the songs Bixby Canyon Bridge, Grapevine Fires, and Your New Twin Sized Bed. And when I say triumph, I mean that they trump all of the rest of the songs by a vast margin. These songs triumph (and what I’m about to say is an over-arching contributor to DCFC’s success) because the band is able to intertwine vocalist Ben Gibbard’s story-telling style with their indie music roots. They don’t try to do anything too sexy or over the top. They stick to what they are good at…and they are great at it.

Other songs on the album, such as Talking Bird, Pity and Fear, and I Will Possess Your Heart, lack direction and end up not really going anywhere. I found myself wanting more to come from the rest of the album, waiting for the songs to come to fruition like older songs Tiny Vessels, Transatlanticism and The New Year do.

But hey, seriously, 3 awesome songs out of 12 isn’t bad. Most bands don’t write 3 awesome songs their entire career.

I suggest you check out this album if only out of respect for what Death Cab has done in the past.

The three songs I mentioned, Bixby Canyon Bridge, Grapevine Fires, and Your New Twin Sized Bed, are available in the player on the left side of the page.

JMMP.

Person L at DC9, 6/16

Tomorrow night former The Starting Line bassist/frontman Kenny Vasoli will be bringing his new band, Person L, to DC9.

With The Starting Line on their “hiatus”, Vasoli traded in his bass for a guitar, put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and started with his new venture. Person L is an indie/experimental act that substitutes the hook-laden choruses heard in The Starting Line with less poppy/even vocal arrangements. The music itself consists of a basic guitar, bass, piano, drums setup.

I personally have had trouble getting into Person L. I feel like some of their songs are a bit thrown together and lack a sense of direction. However, after seeing The Starting Line live a few times, listening to their music since their inception, and knowing Vasoli has a killer voice, I feel guilty not giving Person L a real chance. With that being said, I'll be there. The shows starts at 8:30PM.

Sunshine, one song I do like from their Myspace page, is available to check out in the player on the left side of the page.

UPDATE! The Person L show was much better than I thought it would be. They played many more songs than are available on the web, and they played those songs with such conviction...it was awesome to see. They have an album coming out August 5. I'll definitely be picking it up.

JMMP.

Inkwell and They Live By Night

As I prepare for a short road trip, I'm thinking of what songs to put on my "I'm driving and bored" mix. Here are a couple of bands that come to mind:

Inkwell - a Florida based rock/pop/indie band. They've only released one LP and their myspace page blog hasn't been updated in about a year, so I don't know what the band's current status is. This is a shame because I'm really into their music. The songs are pretty generic indie rock, but really upbeat with creative vocal arrangements and melodies. You can check their purevolume page for a couple additional songs (their myspace only has a few). Songs that are going on the mix: Just Take The Monkey and Leave, I Am The Tightrope.

They Live By Night - Pop/Rock trio from Sweden. They were originally a four-piece and released an LP (Art and Wealth) and an EP, however, recently parted ways with the fourth member and completely changed their sound. Where Art and Wealth was harder and filled with electric guitar, their newer songs contain strings and keys. I personally think both styles are great and urge you to check out all of their stuff. Songs that will be going on the mix: Endless Summer, Meaningless Repair.

You can check out all of these songs on the player on the right side of the page. I've also included an older They Live By Night song called Truth or Dare.

JMMP.

Lightspeed Champion @ The Black Cat...Nope

Last night there was a slight change of plans...

As I was about to go online to purchase my Lightspeed Champion tickets, I checked the DCist for the "Morning Roundup" and found something else to attend. It turns out that the JCC is hosting the Washington Jewish Music Festival this week and last night was a showing of a 1920s silent movie called The Golem with the band Davka playing the score live. Davka mixes elements of Western classical, Middle Eastern and Yiddish music. They played the score impeccably and are truly professional musicians.

Maybe I don't look hard enough, or in the right places, but this kind of thing is super refreshing for me. I first got my taste for silent films at a Salvador Dali exhibit at the Tate Modern in London. Dali is a 20th century Spanish surrealist painter who got his hands into film as well.

Anyways, the film was a great experience and I always welcome getting some additional culture outside of what DC has to offer on a daily basis. If you get a chance, check out one of the other showings at the JCC this week.

Lightspeed Champion will have to wait until next time.

JMMP.

Lightspeed Champion @ The Black Cat

Tomorrow night, alt. country/indie act Lightspeed Champion will be gracing the stage of The Black Cat. They are the second of three acts; doors are at 8PM.

Lightspeed Champion recorded their debut album at Saddle Creek with a couple members of indie darlings Bright Eyes, so be ready for a bit of twang with the British rhetoric that Lightspeed Champion brings lyrically.

You can check out a video of his first single, Galaxy of the Lost, below.



JMMP.