Narrow Stairs-Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie just recently released their latest record called Narrow Stairs, and I for one, love it. It’s a big step forward for them, because it embraces the new boundaries they were able to set for themselves. They got a little experimental with their sound, but in a great way, and it really paid off.

It is one of the best records I’ve heard in a pretty long time, and in a way, it has a Flaming Lips kind of feel to it, especially the first track Bixby Canyon Bridge. The way Ben Gibbard sings just reminds me of the way Wayne Coyne (lead singer of the Flaming Lips sings). It truly shows the confidence they have as a band, because through the originality of some of the songs (such as I Will Possess Your Heart, which is an eight minute long song with an amazing instrumental.) It shows that they made this record for themselves. Not the critics, not the label, and not even the fans. The record then progresses to the middle of the record which pulls you in to the Death Cab spell with songs like Talking Bird and Grapevine Fires. Then it comes to the ending of the record with the classic song, The Ice is Getting Thinner, which, in all actuality, is a think piece on relationships and how they just don't work for Ben Gibbard.

That’s a respectable thing to do in the industry, being able to play what you want and if people don’t like it, being able to say “Go to Hell, because that’s the way it’s going to be.” There’s only one downside to this entire record, and that’s the fact that it’s just a little lengthy. It’s still good, but it’s hard to sit down and listen to the whole thing in one sitting, unless you’re on an airplane, or sitting in a car on a road trip.

That’s all that I really found wrong with the record. They did such an outstanding job of putting this all together, that it just turned out beautifully. Definitely pick it up and spend fourty-five minutes listening to it, because it’s also a great lyrical record. I give it 5 stars. It’s almost a perfect record.