Narrow Stairs

As a fan from the "Something about Airplanes" days, I have no problem labeling this the best Death Cab album yet. I was a bit worried after the post-Plans emo-crush on lead singer Ben.. and the breathy vocals he would exhibit on random love-lorn covers and tv appearences.. but this album is totally a masterpiece. I usually start with "You Can Do Better than Me" and my favorite song on the album, "Grapevine Fires." Then I start back from the beginning. The album might be a grower and not as big as "Plans" because their lead single has a 4.5 minute intro that some of the teenybopper fans don't want to sit through, but it's a solid album. Put it on in the background. One day you'll be hooked and realize they've surely outdone themselves here.

At first I thought this cd was a step back from previous efforts from Death Cab, but after a while it grows on you. Many of the songs run together very well, and I can say that after I removed "I will possess your heart," the quality of the cd went up 10 fold for me personally. After Bixby leaves you just wanting another great song, you're put into the boring and tedious 2nd track. It feels more like a secret type song that is put 5 minutes of silence past the last track.

Transatlanticism. Wow! Masterpiece! I've never heard a better indie album! It is surely untoppable!
Then Plans comes along. Full of insanely awesome, yet very discreet hooks, and pitch-perfect songwriting, it was a sad affair that nearly beat out Transatlanticism.
Then comes Narrow Stairs with its unexpectedly artsy fartsy lead single "...Possess Your Heart", and was clear that Death Cab had reinvented their own personal musical wheel.
Let's get one thing clear, I really only love about half of the album. "Bixby Canyon Bridge" has all been done before, "No Sunlight" seems almost like self-mockery, and "Pity and Fear" and "The Ice is Getting Thinner" are just flatout boring. And "You Can Do Better Than Me" is meant to be a joke, right? Ha ha.
Anyways, now for the songs that will be playing in my mind until I am an old decrepit geezer. "Cath..." has the best blues influence you'll likely ever find on ANY indie album, and it is also the track that has been generating the most steam. Best of all, I HATED this song the first few times I heard it. Then something happened, I think I payed greater attention to the guitar, which made the song for me.
"Long Division" is absolutely one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. But catchiness doesn't matter. A guitar riff that starts on the half rest, plodding its way through a song that it feels like it doesn't even belong in, like an Ewok at a Cannibal Corpse concert. Okay, bad analogy. But it doesn't feel right, but yet it's awesome. An amazing tune.
And for my favorite song of 2008, at least until Underoath comes back around, is "Grapevine Fires" Oh, geez, what a SONG!! I swear I cried when I heard it. You will too. It has the most hauntingly off-kilter and beautiful melody just about ever, and it will never leave my mind. A great way to cap off my freshman year of college. This song made 2008 for me so far. The lyrics obviously pertaining to the Governator's wildfire crisis, are so down to earth and warming it feels like the song is actually conversing with you. Amazing!
Many people have disliked this album. Yes, it has flaws. Some parts are Death Cab or perhaps even all of indie rock at their most mature, while others are just silly. But the four or five good songs on the album warrant it a classic, they really are that good. I'm pretty sure every Death Cab fan in the world has heard this album by now, but if new to the band, it's not a bad place to start, even if after it the other albums sound like a transgression.

It says a lot when the most striking and original thing about an album is the artwork on the liner notes. Unfortunatly, this is the case with Narrow Stairs. Although it is very similar to the poppy Plans, it has the problem of being just an extension of that album's material. There are no songs here that are catchy in a poppy way, or memorable in the lyrical way that the best Plans material, and the best pre-Plans DCFC material.

I've listened to this album 3 or 5 times since I bought it, but afterwards it quickly dropped into the vast reaches of my MP3 archive. If it surfaces from time to time I won't be upset, since all the songs are listenable and easily identifiable as DCFC. But I doubt that I will seek it out.

If you are already a Death Cab fan, then this a good buy if you want to be a completist. For casual fans, I would suggest looking into an older album that you don't already own.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of Death Cab, but I picked this album up off Amazon because I wanted to go see their concert when it was in town. It definitely has some excellent vocal melodies which are memorable, for example on "Bixby", "I Will Possess Your Heart", and "The ice is getting thinner". But altogether its not a very exciting album (they didn't play many of the songs at the concert, hmmm).