After relentless touring, performances on Saturday Night Live, and appearing on the cover of Spin and Paste Magazines, Death Cab for Cutie brings us Narrow Stairs. Following up their DVD collection, Directions, which sold over 30,000 copies and their platinum selling album, Plans, was no easy task but Narrow Stairs has already been praised by MTV.com as the band's most daring and adventurous effort to date.
Narrow Stairs might be the first album recorded by Death Cab for Cutie since Ben Gibbard's former solo project went unexpectedly stratospheric, but Gibbard hasn't let it go to his head. Oh, OK, maybe a little: lead-off single "I Will Possess Your Heart" is an eight minute jam that speeds off on one long, luminous curve before Gibbard's distinctive vocals swing in, sweet and plaintive as ever. Even when indulging their grander visions, though, Death Cab for Cutie are still familiar as the same band that wrote those fragile, winsome songs back before teen drama The OC came knocking. Never knowingly overstated, built from driving rhythms, flourishes of piano and intricate melodies, Narrow Stairs builds grand, emotionally loaded narratives from small, subtle parts. "Your New Twin Sized Bed" hides a deftly articulated tale of heartbreak and loneliness amidst soothing tangles of guitar, while "You Can Do Better than Me" is a sweet miniature that's part Pet Sounds orchestration, part wistful Dear John. This isn't, as Gibbard would previously hint, a dissonant or especially adventurous album. It proves, however, that Death Cab can extend their scope without diluting the pathos or energy of their music, and it not only sounds great, but bodes well for the future. --Louis Pattison
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Quick and short review:
Forget all these long and boring reviews. Here's all you need to know. I'm a huge DCFC fan... have most of the albums. Was very excited when this came out. Other than "I will possess your heart" (which is marginal at best) there is nothing memorable on this album. I hate to say that, but it's true. If this is the next direction of DCFC, they've lost me. There are no melodies that stick in your head. The vocals are too clear and painfully point out weaknesses in Ben's voice. The songs are boring. And they're... more info
Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs:
Narrow Stairs (2008, Atlantic) Death Cab For Cutie's sixth studio album. ****1/2 I'm not sure that it really matters if Narrow Stairs is of the same caliber as Transatlanticism. What matters is that on its own, Narrow Stairs is a fantastic album, certainly one of the best of 2008 thus far. The tone is very clear, and never does its message of loneliness and wanting, the darkness of unrequited love, get lost in even the upbeat and inspiring music. "I Will Possess Your Heart" is easily a strong... more info
the best!:
As a fan from the "Something about Airplanes" days, I have no problem labeling this the best Death Cab album yet. I was a bit worried after the post-Plans emo-crush on lead singer Ben.. and the breathy vocals he would exhibit on random love-lorn covers and tv appearences.. but this album is totally a masterpiece. I usually start with "You Can Do Better than Me" and my favorite song on the album, "Grapevine Fires." Then I start back from the beginning. The album might be a grower and not as big as "Plans"... more info
Grows on you, one bad track:
At first I thought this cd was a step back from previous efforts from Death Cab, but after a while it grows on you. Many of the songs run together very well, and I can say that after I removed "I will possess your heart," the quality of the cd went up 10 fold for me personally. After Bixby leaves you just wanting another great song, you're put into the boring and tedious 2nd track. It feels more like a secret type song that is put 5 minutes of silence past the last track.
