Narrow Stairs

Death Cab for Cutie has always been an all-time favorite of mine. They were my very first concert.

I was ecstatic when I heard that they were finally coming out with a new album.

I couldn't have been more disappointed. Not even one song stood out on the ENTIRE CD.

Oh, Death Cab. Please, give us something decent next time. Please.

This is the complete opposite of the Death Cab I know and love. What happened to melody? What happened to diversity? Each song seems blandly the same, monotonous, and (gasp!) downright BORRRINGGGG!

I saw them live in L.A. a while back, and their energy and effort blew me away. I even chatted with Ben backstage, and his charisma and joy was impressive. Too bad they didn't translate that into this album....

This record is definitely a departure from their previous works. Rockier and with more jam sessions but still very good.

Trash.
Unremarkable, forgettable garbage.
Never has going through the motions been so adeptly portrayed in song.
There is not a single worthwhile composition, suggesting that, like many who get doused with popularity, the band doesn't have the artistic wherewithal to keep a record label from dictating every melodic sweep and gesture with the twitch of a wrist.
I tried valiantly to stick with Death Cab through the stilted, meta-production of Plans and the meadering dissonance of Transatlanticism.
But it is now official that the band has been permanently led astray from the mystical, albeit morose, ingenuity that engendered "Something About Airplanes."
Though it saddens me, I cannot follow Gibbard into the dark.
If anyone has an address for the band, let me know. I'd like to return my copy to sender.

This CD is pretty typical of Death Cab. It's not really anything out of the ordinary, but every song is great. It's one of those CDs you just keep in the car and listen to forever and always find a song that was a hidden favorite.