Album Review: Death Cab for Cutie - "Narrow Stairs" (5.5/10)

By von Richthofen

I was never a paint by numbers kid. You remember those don't you? Square 1 = Red. Square 2 = Magenta.

It's getting old Ben and crew. Fire up your ITunes and listen to track 1 on DCFC's latest offering Narrow Stairs . The faint hum of a verby guitar gives way to a slow burner...sounds great except that it sounded better (much better) as track 1 on their last album Plans ("Marching Bands of Manhattan" ) or track 1 on the preceding album (the effervescent "The New Year" ).

I'll keep this review short and sweet. You've heard this record before. You've followed them into the dark and discovered the figurines in plastic on the wedding cake. Heck, I unearth my vinyl copy of We Have The Facts and We're Voting Yes at least once a year and collapse into a cathartic mess on my sofa. Afterwards, I emerge a little bit less prickly to the woes that befell my day, month, and preceding year. I tuck the vinyl (worth a pretty mint if not for the chew marks on the sleeve from my feline friend) carefully back into it's home and place it back on the shelf for another year. It's a great ritual.
I've found myself enjoying each release since (and including) Transatlanticism a little bit less. This album is no exception. The highlight of the entire affair is "Cath...", which deftly posits the bombast of later period DCFC singles like "Crooked Teeth" directly on top of instrumental fireworks seldom heard since "For What Reason" on We Have The Facts. When they turn the tempo up a notch on "Long Division" you can hear Chris Walla's power-pop sensibilities interceding. It's fun factor is on par with anything that you would find on a New Pornographers disc. "Grapevine Fires" hits on a soulful swing as Gibbard recounts the devastating fires that ravaged California last year. It's here that he is most casually disarming. Gibbard has always been an excellent visual tour guide.
But sadly, the euphoria is short lived. Just as quickly as they break stride, the march towards uniformity continues with "Pity and Fear" and the throw in "The Ice is Getting Thinner" (see Transatlanticism for a deeper take on this dynamic). It's telling that as I played back some old Death Cab For Cutie jams to corroborate the comparisons that my ears were drawing, I found myself sucked into the old songs and loathe to return to Narrow Stairs. It's not a bad offering. It just doesn't hold water.
Kudos to Chris Walla on another crisp and detailed production job but I still think that his magic was best captured on inferior equipment. There was a spontaneity that simmered out of cheap mics and sour notes. It's the same problem that plagues the songwriting here. Square 3 = Blue.
Maybe it's time to dust off that vinyl. I pretty sure that Gibbard and Co. will eventually tear themselves from the steel tracks of a preordained destination. For now, I'm looking backward for assurance that this isn't the next to last chapter in a great ride.

"This won't be the last you hear from me, it's just the start".