rVibe Blog

Going Back to Their Old Sound  Without getting too much into things (the folks at Atlantic wouldn’t take too kindly to that), there are moments on Narrow Stairs that stop you dead in your tracks, send shivers up your spine and make you go “Whoa” (and when could you ever say that about a Death Cab record?). Like the first four-and-a-half minutes of “I Will Possess Your Heart,” a propulsive whirl of stalking bass line, spindly guitars and stabbing piano. Or the big-hearted middle section of “Cath … .” Or even the pair of songs that close the record — the spacey, tabla-infused “Pity and Fear” and the icy, somber “The Ice Is Getting Thinner.” Through it all, Gibbard paints watercolor portraits of crushed expectations (album opener “Bixby Canyon Bridge,” “No Sunlight”) and dashed hopes (”Your New Twin-Sized Bed,” “You Can Do Better Than Me”). The fact that its going back to their old sound but still is unlike anything DCFC have ever done before makes it all the more amazing … and all the more impressive.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Startup Stuff. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed, or Bookmark on del.icio.us. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.