Death Cab For Cutie -- Narrow Stairs Review

Well I wasn't planning on reviewing "Narrow Stairs" today, I actually have a backlog of albums that have come out in the past 6 months that need an official review, but I got a copy of Death Cab for Cutie's latest and decided to review it today before I "forget" (foreshadowing) about it.

I've know about Death Cab, and have been listening to them on and off for several years now. For the most part, my listening to Death Cab goes something like this; a friend would come along all excited to share Death Cab's newest release with me, I'd listen to it, it would be alright... but nothing exciting and the disc would end up sitting on the shelf, only getting pulled down once or twice a year when I was bored and looking for something new.

This was pretty much the pattern until an amazing little album called "Give Up" came out by the Postal Service (Death Cab's front man, Ben Gibbard's side project). It was so good, that I actually anticipated Death Cab's next release "Plans". These two albums changed my opinion of Death Cab, aside from some of the tracks being way over played on the radio, "Plans" is an amazing album, and really had me looking forward to today's review... So here we go:

1 - Bixby Canyon Bridge - This track for the most part reminds me of pre-Plans DC (I'm abbreviating to DC from now on...). Kind of slow, long, and uneventful... not necessarily bad, but nothing special. At 1:45 it does start to pick up with a heavily distorted guitar and prominent bass, but it never really "Rocks" if you will.

2 - I Will Possess Your Heart - Unlike the radio single, the album version of this song starts out with an extend intro lasting nearly 4 and a half minutes. Honestly I think it's really cool for about 3 mins, but then it starts to feel a little too long. The song itself is decent, although the lyrics do come across as being rather stalkerish... I really think DC is trying to make a second "Soul Meets Body" with this track, and unfortunately it falls a little short. Still, even at that it is one of the better tracks on the album.

3 - No Sunlight - From the intro of this song, there is clearly potential. It is much more upbeat than anything we've heard thus far. Unfortunately it never really goes anywhere beyond the intro. Once again, it isn't horrible, but it isn't great either... it's kind of just there.

4 - Cath.... - Like the previous track, "Cath..." starts out with a lot of potential, but never gets to where it could go... I do actually like this track better than #3 though, it's a little better, and definitely the second best thing we've heard thus far.

5 - Talking Bird - Blah, filler track. The lyrics are kind of fun, but the music is... well... blah...

6 - You Can Do Better Than Me - I'm starting to think that someone is having relationship trouble and it's coming though in his music... In this songs defense though, at just under 2 minutes it doesn't get boring, and it's kind of catchy.

7 - Grapevine Fires - I like the kind of jazzy/bluesy organ in the background (it may be a keyboard). This song is alright, I'll add it to the list of decent tracks.

8 - Your New Twin Sized Bed - More relationship problems... At just over 3 min, this song manages to stay somewhat interesting. It doesn't drag like most of the other tracks, and overall, it's a decent track.

9 - Long Division - I actually like this track, I know you're all surprised to finally hear me say that, but it is true. The lyrics are good and catchy, the music is upbeat, and it's just all around a good track.

10 - Pity and Fear - I have mixed feelings about this track. I really like the music, it's much darker and harder sounding than most of the other tracks, but I like it. I'm not a huge fan of the vocals and guitar playing/singing the same melody, but hey you take what you can get. For some reason this track reminds me of another song (which I can't put my finger on... maybe it was a forgettable DC track from a previous album..) Anyway, the song has some really good moments, and overall is one of the stronger tracks on the album.

11 - The Ice Is Getting Thinner - The album closer is essentially Ben Gibbard telling his girlfriend, or former-girlfriend, or whoever he wrote the album for (possibly Kath...?), "Hey I wrote this entire album about how our relationship failed..." I'm not sure if she'll get the message though, because this song is as forgettable as many of the other tracks on the album... I think they should have ended with "Pity and Fear," it was a much better track, and in my opinion a much better closer.

So there you go... After my first listen through, I thought that maybe the album was better than my first impression or that Plans wasn't as good as I thought it was, so in the last 24 hours I have listened to this album 3 times, Plans once, and Transatlanticism (album before Plans) once just for the heck of it. I have come to the conclusion that Plans may have just been a fluke; it may be the only really good album we ever get out of DC. That being said, if you have been a fan of DC for years, you'll probably love this. If you're one of those individuals who thought Plans was a great debut album, you're probably going to thing that DC's sophomore album failed to achieve the grandeur of its predecessor. That being said, I give it a C, it's not great, it's not horrible, it's just average... As for my copy, it will be going on the shelf, and 6 months from now when I'm bored, I may just pull it down for a listen.