With their fifth full-length, indie music darlings Death Cab for Cutie make the jump from 'the little engine that could,' Barsuk Records, to the big-time of Atlantic Records. But don't pick up that rock just yet. Death Cab isn't deserving of the bludgeoning reserved for traitors. With their latest release, Plans Death Cab stick to what they do best as they continue to fuse indie and pop with brief interjections of electronica.
Death Cab opens the album on a high note with 'Marching Bands of Manhattan,' which acts somewhat as an introduction even though it is an entire song. That is to say, the song is constantly building, suggesting something great to follow: the instrumentation is sparse at the beginning but over the course of the song additional elements are added to the mix; the tempo is nearly at a crawl as it opens but elevates as the song unravels itself. And what does all this lead up to? The band's first single, 'Soul Meets Body.' On the track vocalist Ben Gibbard sings 'you're the only song I want to hear / a melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.' These words perfectly describe the song, especially the final chorus in which Gibbard opts for high-pitch melodies.
And while the album starts off great, it does have it dips, one of those being the track 'Summer Skin.' By now listeners are used to the band throwing in slow-moving pieces, but usually those songs are saved by poignant lyrics. Sadly, both fall short in this instance. I felt the same way about the following track, 'Different Names for the Same Thing.' It lacks structure and is rather dull until the pace picks up midway through thanks to an adventurous electronica element.
Plans hits its stride with 'I Will Follow You into the Dark' and 'Your Heart is an Empty Room.' The first is perfectly crafted acoustic piece with some of Gibbard's most poignant lyrics ever. In fact, I'm sure it's already queued on thousands of mix-tapes across the world. The later, my personal favorite on the album, is a catchy number that flows smoothly and contains well-placed twinklely guitars, not to mention a chorus great for singing along.
The remainder of the album continues on in similar fashion, moving through higher points - 'Someday You Will Be Loved' and 'What Sarah Said' - as well as less stellar moments - 'Brothers on a Hotel Bed.'
Overall, Plans is a solid effort with moments that rise above anything found on Transatlanticism. Unfortunately, as a whole the record just doesn't quite reach the level that was found on their previous venture. But if really want to know if you should go out and purchase the album, just wait for Seth Cohen's review in season three of 'The OC.'
