Death Cab impresses listeners

This review should have been written a long time ago for “Narrow Stairs” Death Cab For Cutie’s new album. I got this album when it leaked… because I wasn’t patient enough to wait until it released even though I bought it later anyway…
The album starts with “Bixby Canyon Bridge,” in which I fell in love with from the very beginning. It has a sound that is perfectly possessing that I couldn’t help but listen to it repeatedly until I thought it was probably time to go to the next song.
Next comes the first single, “I Will Possess Your Heart,” a song which pissed me off for the first four minutes until lead singer, Ben Gibbard actually started singing. The song was so perfect for the last four minutes that it completely negates the annoyance of the first four. The song is supposed to be an egregious “screw you” to the radio stations, but when hearing it on the radio, they cut out the first four minutes.
“No Sunlight” has a feeling that is really not what you’d hear from a DCFC album but it’s ridiculously catchy that you can’t help but sing along. The same is with “Cath…” which reminds me a lot of what I’ve heard on “Plans,” their most previous album.
“Talking Bird” and “You Can Do Better Than Me” are the least interesting songs on the album. I’m sure some would say they’re both very interesting but I’ve not been able to make it through “Talking Bird” and “You Can Do Better Than Me” is so short it’s easy to sit through. “Talking Bird” gave me the feeling that there was no effort put into the song… that it was just something the guys came up with in the spur of the moment to fill in the CD.
“Grapevine Fires” has to be one of the best songs on this album. It’s so perfectly put together and the words are so deep that I can’t even sing along. I just listen to the words and feel for whoever it’s about.
“Your New Twin Sized Bed” makes me think of “Brothers on a Hotel Bed.” It doesn’t sound much like it… it just makes me think of it. The song is very good and it’s like a conversation being played out with music, which is very much the Death Cab way.
“Long Division,” “Pity and Fear,” and “The Ice is Getting Thinner” finish the album, leaving the listener wanting more with deep lyrics and even deeper messages.