Death Cab for Cutie

Six studio albums deep into their career, Death Cab for Cutie have seemingly marked a turning point in their sound with Narrow Stairs. Lead singer and songwriter Benjamin Gibbard, also known for his well-received electro-pop side project The Postal Service, has declared the album a "curve ball," and on the surface, compared to the bulk of the band's released material, it is—at least to start. For instance, the eight-minute "I Will Possess Your Heart," which was leaked as a single to their MySpace page nearly a month prior to the album's release, boasts a four-minute intro and little in the way of Gibbard's trademarked saccharine melodies or rhythmic punch. Opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" sports chugging, crunchy electric guitars and an extended bit of anthemic rocking out; however, once resplendently straightforward "No Sunlight" marks its entrance, the band seems ready to settle back into familiar territory, tossing off easy-going, verse/chorus indie rock.

Still, the results are sure to be divisive amongst critics and fans, as Narrow Stairs takes longer to develop than either of their last two releases, Plans and Transatlanticism, which both chartered unabashedly simple song structures and breezy vocal hooks throughout. Yet repeated listens of Narrow Stairs reveal moments of quiet bliss and cathartic release alternatively, such as the languid and subtly emotive chorus of "Grapevine Fires," with a pace mirroring a Western setting sun, and the candid, lost-love ruminations of "Your New Twin Sized Bed." The band quickens its step once more for "Long Division," which amalgamates their old sound with a faster, bigger and more direct chorus and outro; then comes "Pity and Fear," which fleetingly flirts with menacing undertones.

In the end, perhaps the perfect middle ground can be found on "Cath…," where a Built to Spill-inspired guitar line carries the song back and forth between the he-said-she-said vales of Gibbard's lovelorn lyricism, the common thread that inextricably links a decade's worth of material from one of indie rock's true success stories. —William Morris
05.08.08

After spending the better part of a decade in the musical minor leagues, Death Cab for Cutie went pro with 2005's Plans, a record whose optimism and Technicolor sound gave the band enough leverage to finally enter the mainstream. "Soul Meets Body" became their biggest rock single to date, but it was Ben Gibbard's delicate love song, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," that earned the quartet a Grammy nomination and legions of new fans. Some bands might have taken a cue from such success and resigned themselves to a career of acoustic ballads, not unlike the Goo Goo Dolls' transformation in the mid-'90s. But Narrow Stairs roughs up Plans' bright palette with something starker, more harrowing, and altogether darkened by Gibbard's blues. No longer crooning about immortal love or his desire to embrace all of Manhattan, the frontman lives inside his own troubled head on these 11 tracks -- or at least the heads of the characters he conjures up with ease, like some music-minded novelist with a knack for pop melodies and witty observations. There's "Cath," an ill-married girl who "holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child," as well as the creepy stalker in "I Will Possess Your Heart," who simply demands that his intended lover give him the time of day. Elsewhere, Gibbard examines a friend's recent heartbreak by referencing her bedroom furniture ("Your New Twin Sized Bed"), offering up his concern -- if not quite his help -- while the band conjures up a lazy summer's day with gauzy keyboards and brightly chiming riffs. Such contrast between music and text plays an occasional role on Narrow Stairs, with songs like "No Sunshine" and "Long Division" pairing somber lyrics with upbeat orchestration. But the album largely paints itself as the darker, mysterious cousin to Plans -- raw rather than polished, heartbroken rather than optimistic, enigmatic rather than energetic. Gibbard strings his words together with an army of free-flowing "ands" and "buts", and the resulting lyrics -- long, uncoiling sentences with no clear end -- mirror his characters' desperate attitudes. Narrow Stairs is far from desperate, however, and the album's willingness to steer Death Cab into unfamiliar territory (or, to reference an earlier lyric, "into the dark"), is by far its strongest asset. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide