Now Playing - Death Cab for Cutie

How should I react to this one? I'm willing to bet that the members of Death Cab for Cutie had this question (alongside many more) in line for their listeners when they released this bad boy.

Narrow Stairs is the new album from everyone's favorite "underground" indie act. I'll admit that I was never a fan before the highly accessible Plans was released, and perhaps that is the reason I disliked this album.

The thinking behind Narrow Stairs and Plans were entirely different endeavors. I hate to compare albums by an artist because each one is an separate entity, but I believe with respect to the progress of a band such as DC for C, there come albums that take a one-eighty for the sheer reason of saying to their fans that they're still capable of making something that no one expects. I can understand this, really I can. Maybe they wanted to see who was still a die hard DC for C fan, maybe they wrote this without respect for anything anyone thought (Thursday, anyone?), and maybe they didn't think about it at all... and if that's the case, then all the power to them.

Coming off an album like Plans they had thrown themselves into the category of clear, upfront, easy-to-listen-to indie pop. Many, including myself, found this studio album extremely likable. I liked the way they were headed with it, and got my hopes pretty high for their next release. Flash forward a few years and quite a few listens to Narrow Stairs later, and I'm trying to scrape up a reason why I keep pushing play. Yes, I realize that they went through some "different" recording methods. They tried something new. And that is important. HUGELY important for the progress of any band. With all that in mind, I think that they struck out.

It's a rather dull album, and many will be turned off by the lack of indie pop elements that made Plans so endearing. Besides the novelty of their "new" sound, I don't see what the fuss is all about. Some could argue that they took a step back toward what made them popular with their previous albums. That may be the case, and I'm glad to see high profile bands like Death Cab putting their neck out there for the sake of innovation. As an album, however, it's boring. Straight up redundant. I can't tell you, however, not to check them out. "I Will Possess Your Heart" is surely the most interesting song on the album, and should be heard.

<|Indie, Rock, Alternative|>
Death Cab for Cutie myspace

Video for "I Will Possess Your Heart"



RIYL: The Decemberists, Brandtson, sitting on your hands