Death Cab For Cutie
Transatlanticism

THE REVIEW

Let's say someone is sad, also in poor health, the girl they like doesn't even look their way, and no one pays them any attention. Well, if life goes like this, there's not much to do, surely they're not among the lucky ones of society, particularly the American one. But sooner or later someone realizes this condition and makes a record, in my opinion the most "unluckily" beautiful album I've ever heard. Creep and Nirvana are easy solutions by now, punk has lost its strength, Beck is absent, the '80s are still in incubation before their return. Thus, Transatlanticism is born.

Death Cab For Cutie had already made a name for themselves with The Photo Album and the wonderful A Movie Script Ending, but apparently, that wasn't enough. Becoming true icons for those who are considered Emoboys in American society, those a bit unlucky, is quite a challenging mission. You can tell them to break everything, to fight society, or to close into themselves and suffer silently. But you can also tell them, who cares, since you can live your life even in illusion, and that's fine. Because you can imagine that the girl actually looks at you, that the football captain is a 40-year-old fat guy who only eats Big Macs. It's not quite like that, but after all, it's fine with you this way. You will leave that dreary province, and become a good person, earn respect. Now enjoy the moment, and don't let it get ruined. Love is yours, not others'.
What could be but isn't, what only you experience, and others don't even imagine.

This is what this album is, your way to escape from the drab everyday life. Occasionally, the shadow of sadness reappears, but there is that thread of hope, of renewal that is never cut. That moment of light that obscures all the rest.
Among arpeggios never so beautiful, subtle sampling, and a soft voice you get lost, close your eyes and live the life you wish for. One made of pedagogical sufferings, not in vain, those where your endless stories end in the best of ways, the one where you always rise again in the end. The carefully and wonderfully crafted sounds of this album lull you, you get lost in what remains of indie, because this album is not indie, but it's not everything else either.
For many people, Transatlanticism will mean nothing, it will just be a mass of songs that don't strike, too mushy at that. Not for you, though, this is the album of your life maybe, or at least it's the album of the life you want to imagine.
Your little Way of the Cross, there's the tear that falls, but always with a smile. You will always carry Death Cab For Cutie with you, and you will listen to them again when things finally go well because you knew: they were right.