Narrow Stairs
Anyone who has ever inhaled the air while overlooking the majesty of the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur will surely understand Death Cab For Cutie's point of view on their latest release, "Narrow Stairs." A retreat to this legendary central California destination clearly had lasting impacted on frontman Ben Gibbard's latest and most literate collection of lyrics. And yet for all of the open space and panorama that a trip to Big Sur entails, the irony of the band's love for that space comes from the fact that their last album, "Plans", sounded infinitely more spacious and breathable than this latest collection of tunes which captures a band at its tightest and most visceral.

Though much has been said about the familiar lyrical ground being tread on "Narrow Stairs", the album represents a stunning departure in their treatment and experimentation of musical textures and atmospheres. Though "Your New Twin Sized Bed" and "The Ice Is Getting Thinner" could have easily been placed elsewhere in DCFC's back catalog, songs such as "Pity & Fear", "You Can Do Better Than Me", and "Bixby Canyon Bridge" showcase a band that has sonically stepped out while coming closer together in the studio. Doing away with the pristine and polished production of their first major label success, resident producer Chris Walla opted for more live takes, resulting in a sound that damn near rocks at times and possesses an urgency uncommon for a band often tagged as "twee-pop." "Pity & Fear" has a prominent tabla groove embedded within, while "You Can Do Better Than Me" finds the band approaching worship at the altar of sun god Brian Wilson.

"Bixby Canyon Bridge" might be the true stunner here though. Referencing that glorious Big Sur landmark, Ben Gibbard weaves a familiar tale of soul searching that comes up empty-handed. Even the music begins in familiar territory, melding Gibbard's sparkling tenor with ghostly echoes and reverberations. But then Death Cab's most subdued personality, Jason McGerr, begins to punish his kit in a way that hasn't happened since the final minutes of "Transatlanticism." Distorted bliss ensues, and you temporarily forget and forgive that these are the guys who also gave us the sugary "We Laugh Indoors" just a few albums back.

Though the all of the sonic innovations may be negated by the cliched (though eloquently worded) lyrics, "Narrow Stairs" represent a band at the peak of its powers. Now comfortably in the majors, these guys have no problem releasing an epic eight minute jam as their first radio single or dirtying up their shimmery textures with walls of noise and feedbacks. It might be a bit overwhelming at first. Much like Big Sur itself though, the album will beg for you to make several return trips.

Like the CD cover, it is boring.
This is Today's Bestseller. Why? This is very boring.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This band, as well as Coldplay, Paramore, The Shins, Arctic Monkeys, Flight of the Conchords, 3 Doors Down, Daughtry, 10 Years, Franz Fartinand, every band on Fueled By Ramon and Rise Records are clogging up the music industry.
If you buy into this, they will make more. Very much like every time someone watches American Idol, Two & A Half Men, So You Think You Can Dance, and CSI: Albuquerque, they just make another episode.
I understand Nu-metal, Metalcore, Alternative Rock, Screamo, Emo, and pop sucks. They really suck! But this is clogging up the music industry. Surely we can find something better.

We can take back the music industry. WE ARE THE CONSUMERS!
If anyone tells you this CD is good, punch 'em real hard.

Good Show!
This CD knocked Trans down to number 3 for me... with Plans still holding the top spot. Although, listening to Plans and Stairs back to back... they have little in common as far as the way they make me feel. Plans has a lot of really deeply written tracks that make you step back and think about things in ways you haven't before. Stairs sounds just as good, but I think the lyrics lack that richness.

I think the single, I will possess your heart, is the weakest song on the album. It's got something of interest in the lyrics... but I think it needs to be taken back to the drawing board, and rebuilt from the ground up.

Other than that one track, I think the CD is great. I'm not going to give a review of each track... I think a lot of the other reviews I've read on here pretty much sum it up... but I disagree with every review I've read of Talking Bird.
This has become my favorite song on the CD. It's slow, and drawn out... but not too long. The subject matter is whimsical and really plays on my imagination. He just talks to his bird, and critiques it. The way he talks to his bird, and ponders what it's really about, is similar to how I listen to this track. I'm still not sure if it's not a metaphor for something else. I have to draw a comparison between this song's lyrics, and some classic Willie Nelson. Willie's Hello Wall is on par with this song's whimsy. I put Talking Bird on repeat and I could see working on an extensive art project with this as the background sound.

Anyway - I just felt that song wasn't getting a fair review from both sides of the table.

If you're a fan of Plans and Trans, I'd find it hard to believe that you wouldn't like this album. Find a way to listen to it first before buying if you're skeptical - but I think, like me, you'll find yourself owning your very own copy in no time. Support the music.

PERFECT!
I can't recommend "Narrow Stairs" highly enough. I was wondering how Death Cab For Cutie would follow up their masterpiece (Plans) and I was highly skeptical that they could. So many details made "Plans" such a great album and the follow up was going to be a very delicate procedure. "Narrow Stairs" shows growth without sacrificing taste and all the quality of their songwriting and musicianship has evolved in all the right ways. The band has the gifts of creativity and melodicism. The songs on "Narrow Stairs" don't require multiple listens in order to get them engraved in your brain and the whole album is that rare gem that is great from beginning to end. How will they follow this one up?

And They Carried on Like Long Division
Much has been made of the eight and a half minute epic first single from Death Cab for Cutie, I Will Possess Your Heart and its four and a half minutes of a bass line on a constant loop before a single lyric is uttered. But ironically Narrow Stairs starts right off with the voice of Ben Gibbard. In fact Bixby Canyon Bridge sounds like it could have been an unheard track off of their last album Plans. That is until the track deconstructs around the two thirty mark into a fuzzy distortion for the last nearly singer-less three minutes. Which could explain why it takes the next track, I Will Possess Your Heart took almost as long to finally find its groove.

Aside from the extended outro and intro of the first two songs, Narrow Stairs really doesn't deviate too far from the band's previous sound. Sure you find some more feedback on Talking Bird and the organ bounce of You Can Do Better Than Me is reminiscent of the golden era of The Beach Boys as well as the abrupt end of Pity and Fear. While the track length ranges from under two minutes to over eight.

As the music of the band evolves, the songwriting really doesn't deviate as Gibbard's old stand bys of love, loss, and obsession are still preeminent. The latter of course show up in I Will Possess Your Heart (how disturbingly great is that title) which could be the best song written by a stalker since Crash into Me. The ode to California wildfires Grapevine Fires is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

And no one is better at making depressing things sound gloomy like when he asks what became of a girl "in a hand-me-down wedding dress" on Cath... Then there is something funny yet sad about the girl in Your New Twin Sized Bed who downgrades from a queen because she just doesn't need the extra space after realizing no one was going to it take up. But Gibbard saved the most lovelorn story for himself when he declares on You Can Do Better than Me that he can't do better than her.