Death Cab for Cutie
Narrow Stairs

THE REVIEW

Surely, the Death Cab for Cutie had something to prove; they needed to show that they were not just the idols of Californian teenagers or the indie band that signed with the majors and  the indie band of TV shows. Many, including myself, were waiting for them at the gate and were not disappointed: "Narrow Stairs" is one of the most pleasant music releases of 2008 and, strictly for the record, has won over the majority of critics.

The carefree indie of DCFC has given way to a more particular music, slightly contaminated by post-rock. The songs on this latest album by the four Californians are mostly de-structured and atmospheric yet melodic and catchy at the same time. Their artistic shift is vividly evidenced by the choice of the lead single, "Will Possess Your Heart", an eight-minute song with at least four filled by a hypnotic bass line that becomes the foundation for the progression of heavily distorted guitars and keyboards. As mentioned before, the songs are sophisticated and apt for more attentive listening compared to DCFC’s other works, yet there are no lack of catchier moments harking back to the immediate past of the band in question like "No Sunlight", a very enjoyable alt-pop with a delightful chorus and soothing guitar lines.

The song that struck me the most, and is strongly vying for being the best of this "Narrow Stairs" is the opener, "Bixby Canyon Bridge" (which you can watch at the link on the side), a funeral homage by frontman Gebbard towards the dream of James Kerouac, prophet of the Beat Generation who all of you know better than I do. The track opens with an evocative intro where only Gebbard's delicate voice (singing "I descended a dusty gravel ridge, beneath the Bixby Canyon Bridge. And soon I eventually arrived at the place where your soul had died?") and the equally delicate arpeggios of Chris Walla dominate to then erupt, after thesudden acceleration of McGerr's drums, into a noisy and muscular section characterized by the paranoid and repetitive chant ("Dream Dream Dream Dream?") of Gebbard and dominated by the low thud of Harmer's bass and literally torn chords from distortion by the Gebbard-Walla duo, the true compositional leaders of the Californian outfit; the return to that melancholic motif that served as the introduction closes this jewel-like song on this record, which nonetheless does not lack weaker moments, the first among them "Pity and Fear", a track endowed in the finale with another excellent segment of distorted guitars upon which a synthesizer layer rests, but abruptly ends at the climax. Another of the rare songs against the work reviewed here is "You Can Do Better Than Me", which presents an orchestral background that mediocrely cites the Beatles of "Pepperesque" memory and perhaps breaks the magical atmosphere created by the first five tracks. For the rest, the song quality remains decidedly high and deserving of my high rating. "Long Vision" for its memorable chorus, "Your New Two Sized Bed" for its once again perfectly fitting guitar arpeggios, "Grapevine Fires"  for its exquisitely soul-tinged choruses, and "Talking Bird" for its calm reflective atmosphere, particularly deserve more words of praise which space does not allow.

A final note to be made is on the substantial content worth of the lyrics of this surprising "Narrow Stairs", masterfully written by Gebbard who, opting for a series of eleven mini-stories ("Narrow Stairs"="Small Steps") instead of a concept or a single argumentative whole, ranges from themes of poetic and literary importance (Kerouac and his pilgrimages, as mentioned above) to the lack of time even to love typical of today's society in "I Will Possess Your Heart" ("You gotta spend some time love. You gotta spend some time with me. And I know that you'll find love. I will possess your heart?"), to loneliness in "Your New Twin Sized Bed" ("You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed?"), to suffering in "Grapevine Fires" ("Before we all burn?"), to the feeling of uselessness in "Long Division" ("To be a remain, remain, remain remainder") and to the metaphorical reflection on freedom in "Talking Bird", where Gebbard addresses his talking bird thus: "It's all here for you as long as you choose to stay... It's all here for you as long as you don't fly away...".

In conclusion, a truly great effort by Death Cab For Cutie, perhaps their best in their discography, that livens up at least a bit the otherwise somewhat sparse musical landscape of this year. Recommended to all for its accessibility: both to those who are well-versed in indie and to those who are not.

Score out of ten: 8.5/10