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Rating: 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
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 I Will Possess Your Heart (08:35)
How I wish you could see the potential, the potential of you and me
It's like a book elegantly bound, but in a language that you can't read - just yet
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 (x2)
There are days when outside your window, I see my reflection as I slowly pass
And I long for this mirrored perspective, when we'll be lovers, lovers at last
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(x2)
I will possess your heart (x2)
You reject my advances and desperate pleas
I won't let you, let me down so easily, so easily
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 (x3)
I will possess your heart (x2)
03 No Sunlight (02:40)
When I was young
Lying in the grass
I felt so safe
In a warming bath
Of sunlight, of sunlight
Vast open sky
Could do no harm
Like an embrace
Of a mother's arms
In sunlight, in sunlight
In sunlight, in sunlight
With every year
That came to pass
More clouds appeared
Till the sky went black
And there was no sunlight, no sunlight
And there was no sunlight, no sunlight anymore
It disappeared at the same speed
The idealistic things I believed
And the optimist died inside of me
No sunlight, no sunlight
No sunlight, no sunlight
It disappeared at the same speed
The idealistic things I believed
And the optimist died inside of me
No sunlight, no sunlight
No sunlight, no sunlight
No sunlight, no sunlight
No sunlight, no sunlight
No sunlight anymore
04 Cath... (03:50)
Cath, she stands with a well-intentioned man
but she can't relax with his hands on the small of her back
and as the flash bulbs burst
she holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child
and soon everybody will ask what became of you
and your heart was dying fast, and you didn't know what to do
Cath, it seems that you live in someone else's dream
in a hand-me-down wedding dress
where the things that could have been are reppressed
but you said your vows, and you closed the door
on so many men who would have loved you more
and soon everybody will ask what became of you
and your heart was dying fast, and you didn't know what to do
the whispers that it won't last roll up and down the pews
but if their hearts were dying that fast,
they'd have done the same as you
and i'd have done the same as you
05 Talking Bird (03:23)
One, two, three, four
Oh, my talking bird
Though you know so few words
They're on infinite repeat
Like your brain can't keep up with your beak
And you're kept in an open cage
So you're free to leave or stay
And sometimes you get confused
Like there is a hint that I'm trying to give you
The longer you think
The less you'll know what to do
It's hard to see your way out
When you live in a house in a house
'Cause you don't realize
That the windows were open the whole time
But, oh, my talking bird
Though your feathers are tattered and furled
I'll love you all the days
Till the breath leaves your delicate frame
It's all here for you
As long as you choose to stay, hey
It's all here for you
As long as you don't fly away
07 Grapevine Fires (04:07)
When the wind picked up, the fire spread
And the grapevine seemed left for dead
And the northern sky looked like the end of days
The end of days
The wake-up call to a rented room
Sounded like an alarm of impending doom
To warn us it's only a matter of time
Before we all burn
Before we all burn
Before we all burn
Before we all burn
We bought some wine and some paper cups
Near your daughter's school when we picked her up
And drove to a cemetery on a hill
On a hill
And we watched the plumes paint the sky gray
As she laughed and danced through the field of graves
There I knew it would be alright
That everything would be alright
Would be alright
Would be alright
Would be alright
And the news reports on the radio said it was getting worse
As the ocean air fanned the flames
But I couldn't think of anywhere I would've rather been
To watch it all burn away, to burn away
''Burn
Burn
Burn''
The firemen worked in double shifts
With prayers for rain on their lips
And they knew it was only a matter of time
10 Pity and Fear (04:21)
I have such envy for the stranger lying next to me
Who awakes in the night and slips out into the predawn light
With no words: a clean escape, no promises or messes made
And chalks it all up to mistake, mistake, mistake
There are no tears, just pity and fear
And the vast ravine right in between
A storm at sea, the bow cracked and I was capsizing
And I sunk below where I swore I would never go
If you can't stand in place, you can't tell who's walking away
From who remains, who stays, who stays, who stays
There are no tears, just pity and fear
And the vast ravine right in between
There are no tears, just pity and fear
And I recall the push more the fall
The push more the fall...
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