Death Cab for Cutie

I remember in 2005 when Plans was released to major label acclaim. I saw the album displayed on an end cap at a big department store and felt my heart slightly deflate. My sadness, conjured by those mainstream maneuvers, revolved around the economics of that transaction. The album was selling for something like $9.99 – a price most indie record stores couldn't compete with.

So while the leap to a major label assured the band a first-rate spot in the abridged music sections of some major department stores, the move simultaneously seemed to stick it to the Little Guy who gave them their footing.

While I'm now more jaded and out of touch than ever before, I know that decision to go major probably wasn't an evil one, and Death Cab wouldn't soon show off their new digs on "Cribs" anytime soon (does that show still exist?).

With their newest release, Narrow Stairs, the band has dredged the gutters, creating a more jagged release both compositionally and lyrically.
Unlike the eclipsing, vacuum-like polished sounds on Plans, Stairs songs are more introverted and angular – they brood and sulk a little more, so it's less like dinner conversation and more like two writers getting together to argue a story plot, only to leave frustrated, still harboring different ideas about the way things should end.
Ben Gibbard's lyrics reveal a guy who is not comfortable wandering moonlit, barren city streets; he's more likely to search the kitchen cabinets and cupboards with the lights out, searching for some unquenchable answer to a deepening hunger.

And then there's the music.

"I Will Possess Your Heart" is an impressive eight and a half minute haunt. All the optimistic skin has fallen from the bone; the song meanders for several minutes with bright piano hammering, slowly building layers of wooing guitars and ghost notes tickling the snare drum.

It would be to presumptive to say Narrow Stairs is a return of sorts for the band. After all, the objective of indie spirited rock bands is to remain prolific. But the album definitely possesses all the elements of a band who is not ready to be pigeonholed or shoved to the edge of a sparkling, lighted stage.

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3.23 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."