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Music Review: Death Cab For Cutie take dramatic leap
Staff and agencies
By JOHN KOSIK, Associated Press Writer 22 minutes ago
Death Cab For Cutie, "Narrow Stairs" (Atlantic): Making the jump from an indie label to a major one can spell disaster, and many a fan heralded the demise of Death Cab For Cutie after their unfairly criticized Atlantic debut, 2005‘s "Plans."
Typically grounded in warm and bright flavors, Death Cab have widened their scope dramatically on "Narrow Stairs," with synth providing dark tones and biting atmosphere — the disc floats and echoes.
Disc opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" provides a jolt, with a soft intro and frontman Ben Gibbard‘s emotive vocals lulling you in before a hard riff hits you over the head.
The disc is nicely balanced between driving rock — the poppy "No Sunlight," anthemic "Cath," and joyous retro vibe of "Long Division" and "Pity and Fear" — and moody mid-tempo ballads — a poetic "Grapevine Fires" and the self-deprecating oddity of "You Can Do Better Than Me."
CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Equally sad and romantic, "Your New Twin Sized Bed" is a sweet lament to heartbreak, and Gibbard‘s longing vocal will touch anyone who‘s spent a rainy day crying in bed.
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