'Plans' is Death Cab's finest yet
By Matt von Boecklin
In 1995, no one outside of Seattle knew who they were. This year, they're the name on everyone's lips. Almost a month ago, on August 30, Death Cab for Cutie released their album, "Plans". It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, selling 90,000 copies in its first week. The quiet rock quartet from Bellingham, Wash., has now officially reached, after more than ten years, rock star status.
Death Cab is a veteran to the creation of music. They have released six full-length albums, the lastbeing the enormously popular, yet radio-denied, Transatlanticism. Weathered fans knew that Death Cab had always stood out for being highly lyrical, and their atmospheric music had never quite varied from the sub-pop underground vein they created, despite rejection from MTV and radio.
Yet with "Plans" buoyed by spectacular reviews from The New York Times to Rolling Stone, Death Cab can showcase their talent, with a major record label and the largest audience they've had. "Plans" shows a different side of Death Cab for Cutie, and die-hard fans may be surprised. The band departs from the sometimes darkly brooding, sometimes anthemic, sometimes quirky pop to a decidedly new portrayal of lead singer/songwriter Ben Gibbard's beautifully described thoughts.
Gibbard uses the songs on "Plans" to cope with the tragic reality that all goals a man will set for himself are subject to the mercy of the world around him. He constantly describes how much he wishes that it was possible to keep a handle on fate, and to prevent all the beauty in his life from being suddenly jerked away from him.
The songs vary from tales of summer love-endings, hospital death-bed visits, fear of death, and the crumble and decay of even the most solid of relationships,. "You may tire of me/as our December sun is setting/cuz I'm not who I used to be," are the first words of "Brothers in a Hotel Bed." People change, Gibbard expresses, whether they like it or not, and not always for the better.
Old Death Cab songs rely heavily on guitar riffs and bass, and were sung mainly about unattainable love. But "Plans" tends to use piano more than guitar; a fitting compliment to the change in direction of the album. Their first albums were often dark and gloomy, but "Plans" is not an album of forlorn longing. "Plans" is an album of reflection.
As most artists tend to do, Death Cab has matured to its peak. "Plans" is a beautiful, extremely sprawling, and direct message delivered by a band who's learned enough about life to do it justice. Somehow, "Plans" seems to be a transition to a more thoughtful, more deliberate, and far more talented Death Cab for Cutie.
Grade: A
Contact Matt von Boecklin at (408) 551-1918 or mvonboecklin@scu.edu.