When it comes to indie bands, few things can signify
a downward spiral more quickly than switching to a major record
label. But to the chunk of Death Cab For Cutie’s fan base griping
about the band selling out, they might be better suited to stewing
with earlier releases and leaving the rest of us to enjoy
Plans.
Usually, I find myself avoiding bands so thoroughly
hyped (in Death Cab’s case, by constant name-checking on the
mind-bogglingly popular The OC), if only because for the
most part, that hype always seems to eclipse the album itself. But
the slick, almost-reminiscent-of-R.E.M. first single “Soul Meets
Body” proved that the band were Seth Cohen’s standby for a reason,
and its instant likeability is why I can forgive the fact that it’s
permanently lodged itself in my head.
For the most part, Plans, Death Cab For
Cutie’s fifth album, retains the best of the band’s previous
efforts, just with more polished production. It relies heavily on
low-key, acoustic tracks, and forgoes the typical rocker single
with the opener, “Marching Bands of Manhattan.” It’s an impressive
lead-in, featuring a few of my favorite lyrics committed to music:
“Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole / Just like a
faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound / But while you
debate half empty or half full / It slowly rises; your love is
gonna drown”. And by the time you’ve reached the second track, the
aforementioned “Soul Meets Body,” you’re already ingrained into
Plans as it flows along.
The next few tracks are gems as well: “Summer Skin,”
the soft ode to lost summer love with its military snare to
contrast and “Different Names For The Same Thing,” which both
succeed largely due to the quiet force of their lyrics. After
returning from his side project, The Postal Service, lead singer
and songwriter Ben Gibbard does what he does best, fusing
ever-present themes of unrequited love and loss into his sincere,
relatable lyrics. The best evidence of this? The stark, somber “I
Will Follow You Into The Dark,” which relies solely on Gibbard’s
voice and acoustic guitar to relay the inevitability of death.
“Crooked Teeth” is the closest to a rock song that
Death Cab For Cutie attempt; upbeat and immediately catchy, it’s
easy to see why it was chosen as the follow-up single. Following
that is one of my favorites, “What Sarah Said” and its definitive
lines, “I’m thinking of what Sarah said, that ‘Love is watching
someone die’ / So who’s going to watch you die?…”. After all,
most of us can relate somewhere to the similar hospital scene the
band paints, or at least the loss of a loved one.
On Plans, Death Cab For Cutie prove themselves
deserved of their hype, a feat many bands can’t claim to have
achieved. They’ve created an album that’s not only likeable, but
one that I’ve found to be irremovable from my stereo weeks after my
first spin of it.
