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.
No comments:
Post a Comment