Death Cab For Cuties – Codes And Keys

- 31/05/11 01:04

Death Cab for Cutie are a band whose sound is unmistakable and yet endlessly accessible. Ever since their 1998 debut, Something About Airplanes, the band have established a unique sound filled with vocals which inspire a sense of both melancholy and melody, lyrics which are both strange and beautiful and music which ebbs and flows with passion through each song. Not quite as “out there” as Radiohead but not quite radio-reliant pop like so much new music these days, Death Cab is a band which sits well in the world of alternative music. Codes and Keys is their seventh full-length release and you have to wonder if a band can keep their material as original and endearing over so many albums.

From the very first lo-fi vocal note and the frantic tinkling of the ride cymbal in opener ‘Home is a Fire’, we are taken to a familiar place and the sense of familiarity continues throughout the album. This is not the kind of familiarity you hate to hear – it’s the familiarity of home, of a band that is comfortable with the sound they’ve created. Rather than expand on their sound and possibly ruin their discography with experiments gone wrong, Death Cab For Cutie have decided to add to their roster in an already established style. Whether it be the piano driven title track ‘Codes and Keys’ or ‘You Are A Tourist’ whose guitar pleases the ears in a way only a great bit of guitar can, you can be sure which band you’re hearing. It’s refreshing to hear a band that knows they’ve already nailed it rather than try to expand a sound that was already working for them. The album feels comfortable as a result and it’s a joy to hear.

The tone of the album is decidedly less melancholy than Narrow Stairs and a little more upbeat than Plans. The band has a habit of hiding optimistic messages in slightly dark sounding songs, but the tone here doesn’t often reach particularly low levels. I can’t help but feel that the album has been released on the brink of summer for a reason – the smooth guitars and steady drum beats match a summer afternoon perfectly. In this is one of the flaws of Codes and Keys, however – though the music often strikes very emotional chords and it’s never unsubstantial, the album has a constant tempo and the only songs that do slow down are the weakest parts of the album – though an attempt has been made to create some sweeter, more thoughtful moments on the album, they never quite live up to the excellent ballads from previous albums, such as ‘I Will Follow You Into The Dark’.

Overall, Death Cab for Cutie have written another excellent album which existing fans will love and strangers to the band should check out. Though there’s not much in the way of new noise, what is there is just as fantastic and striking as anything we’ve heard in previous efforts.


Tracklisting :

01 Home Is A Fire
02 Codes And Keys
03 Some Boys
04 Doors Unlocked And Open
05 You Are A Tourist
06 Unobstructed Views
07 Monday Morning
08 Portable Television
09 Underneath The Sycamore
10 St Peter’s Cathedral
11 Stay Young, Go Dancing

 

Glen Lewis

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