Death Cab For Cutie (new album out in 2022 + tour ongoing!)

[senecadawg2]

Damn :'( I'm so bummed to be missing this—the east coast dates line up exactly with the only vacation I have planned for the year. Looking forward to the new album, though. I didn't love the last one, but they've sort of quietly become one of my favorite bands. I'd hold Transaltanticism, Plans, and Kintsugi up there with almost anything.

[KevShmev]

Thank You for Today wasn't one of my favorites, but I still like it, and Gold Rush has held up as one of my favorite songs by the band.  Ben Gibbard is on my Mount Rushmore of lyricists, and that song is a good example as to why.

For me, it is hard to beat that run of The Photo Album, Transatlanticism and Plans.

[Mladen]

I still go back to Thank you for today every now and then, it's such a nice and consistent album. Having liked Kentsugi as well, I'm looking forward to the new one.

[KevShmev]

Oh yeah, both of those albums are good. That is the great thing about this band, is that they are seemingly incapable of a bad record.  Every album is always, at the very least, good.

[senecadawg2]

After a couple of listens, I'm confident this one is going to do more for me than the last album. Quite enjoying the title track, Rand McNally, and I Miss Strangers, but that's just first impressions. I imagine once I have more time to look over the lyrics the other tracks will grow on me a lot.

[KevShmev]

Yep, yep, release day!  I'll be grabbing this and giving it many listens.  And my younger brother, cousin and I have tickets to see them next month. 

[KevShmev]

The new album is good.  The song Roman Candles is a complete dud, but everything else is good, and songs like Rand McNally, Foxglove Through the Clearcut, I Miss Strangers and Here to Forever are all pretty great.

Saw the band Thursday here in STL.  Really good show.  Ben Gibbard was pretty wound up all night and did a good job at getting the crowd going about halfway through, as everyone on the first floor (we had good seats in the balcony) was pretty stoic early on, but after he kindly complimented us for being such a polite crowd (hint hint, feel free to show a pulse!!), the people on the floor showed a bit more enthusiasm.

Set list:

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/death-cab-for-cutie/2022/the-factory-chesterfield-mo-43b1130b.html

I was a bit bummed that Gold Rush, one of my favorites by the band, isn't getting played, as Northern Lights is the only song from the previous album getting played (and that song rules as well), but we got six songs combined from Plans and Transatlanticism, their two best albums, so I was pretty happy.  I think this is the first tour where the song Transatlanticism isn't getting played. 

[Mladen]

I am also digging the album quite a bit, especially the first half. After Pepper, it kind of meanders, but the opening track, Here to forever and the title track are pretty great. I also like Roman candles, actually. 

[KevShmev]

I am also digging the album quite a bit, especially the first half. After Pepper, it kind of meanders, but the opening track, Here to forever and the title track are pretty great. I also like Roman candles, actually. 

To each their own. 

I figured Roman Candles would grow on me and be more to my liking after seeing it live, but it has completely gone the other way. 

Maybe it's the track number, as Black Sun which is track 2 from Kintsugi is still the only dud for me on that record, yet they still play that at every show.  That is mystifying as heck to me.

[senecadawg2]

I quite like Black Sun, but I'm with you on Roman Candles—not a terrible track I don't think, but definitely my least favorite on the album.

[KevShmev]

Because I never know when something might suddenly grab me, I did throw Black Sun back on to my phone today (I previously had every song from Kintsugi on there but that one), so I will give it a couple fresh spins to see if it is a little better for me now.

Also, there are few better live moments than the first chorus of Soul Meets Body, the one he scats on the album, since he never sings it live, simply because we the fans always all sing it.  Always a fun moment.

[DTA]

New album is good but the second half is WAY better than the first half imo. Foxglove might be the best song they’ve made in many many years and I Miss Strangers and Wheat Like Waves are also outstanding. I’ll Never Give Up On You is a great closer too. I like this more than TYFT but there’s still an undercurrent of mediocrity here that I feel started around Narrow Stairs that doesn’t let any of their new albums really blow me away anymore. Kintsugi came closest but they ignore that album for some reason besides Sun/Ghosts.

[KevShmev]

New album is good but the second half is WAY better than the first half imo. Foxglove might be the best song they’ve made in many many years and I Miss Strangers and Wheat Like Waves are also outstanding. I’ll Never Give Up On You is a great closer too. I like this more than TYFT but there’s still an undercurrent of mediocrity here that I feel started around Narrow Stairs that doesn’t let any of their new albums really blow me away anymore. Kintsugi came closest but they ignore that album for some reason besides Sun/Ghosts.

As much as I love this band, I don't really go in expecting to be blown away by any of their albums.  I view them as a band whose albums are consistently good to really good.  Even the ones I consider the best - like Plans, The Photo Album or Transatlanticism - are ones I consider very good (or great, if you ask me on the right days).

I do agree that this is an upgrade from Thank You for Today, which had two major keepers in Gold Rush and Northern Lights (two of my favorites by the band in general) and then a bunch of songs that ranged from solid to good.  The new album has more above average songs, for my money.

I was a big fan of both Codes and Keys and Kintsugi, and the band doesn't seem to give much love to either album anymore, but they always hit the newest album hard live, so by the time they hit what they seem to consider the big albums hard as well (TA-cism, Plans, Narrow Stairs), it doesn't always leave a lot of room in the set list for songs from the other albums. 

I will say as well that I am still baffled as to why Gibbard considers Narrow Stairs one of their top albums (he did a ranking of their album a few years ago and I believe it was top 3).  That album is inconsistent, and its highs do not reach the highs of most of their other records, IMO.

[DTA]

Ok the second half of Asphalt Meadows has officially become one of my favorite album sides of theirs. Fragments From the Decade has really grown on me and the only moment that kinda bugs me is the synth motif that runs through Pepper. Didn't expect that to happen with a Death Cab album anymore. Not a huge fan of the first half of the album unfortunately, though Here To Forever and I Don't Know How I Survive are good. I've also revisited TYFT a few times after this thread and it's a lot better than I remember.

I also listened to Narrow Stairs again and yeah, it's such a mixed bag. Bixby always blows me away, Cath... has a really great guitar hook, Twin Sized Bed is pretty overlooked with a really beautiful bridge, and Long Division is catchy as hell. I Will Possess Your Heart and Grapevine Fires just never do it for me and the band just will not stop playing the former.

Codes & Keys is pretty weak for me. Doors Unlocked and Open and You Are A Tourist are incredible (and the only ones they ever play live) and I have a soft spot for Monday Morning and Stay Young Go Dancing but I outright dislike Home Is A Fire, the title track, and Unobstructed Views.

Nothing will top Facts or Transatlanticism for me, but I'm glad their newer albums are still delivering great moments.

[KevShmev]

I like I Will Possess Your Heart, but I swear, seeing it played live again last week really made it clear how many times he repeats the "You gotta spend some time" line in the second half of the song.  Take a shot every time he sings those words and you'll be blackout drunk before the song ends.  To me, the first half of the song, the instrumental bits, is great, but the latter half is just okay. 

I thought Bixby was a bizarre choice for the last encore when I looked and saw that it was ending most shows on the tour prior to ours, but it worked really well, so I stood corrected. I even turned to my brother and cousin after it was over and said, "Okay, I was wrong, that worked really nice as the closer!"  I love being wrong sometimes. 

[soupytwist]

Narrow Stairs is second only to Transatlanticism for me.   Didn't really get much from Codes and Keys or Kintsugi so didn't even bother with Thank You as it seemed to be getting similar negative reviews as those album.  Might give Asphalt a listen though as the reviews are much more positive.   The most inconsistent album for me is Plans - has some of their best work along side several completely forgettable songs.

[Nel]

I really like I Will Possess Your Heart but with an intro that long, it always felt weird as a second track to me. Always felt more like it should have been either the first, the last, or the middle (track... 6? I guess).

[KevShmev]

Narrow Stairs is second only to Transatlanticism for me.   Didn't really get much from Codes and Keys or Kintsugi so didn't even bother with Thank You as it seemed to be getting similar negative reviews as those album.  Might give Asphalt a listen though as the reviews are much more positive.   The most inconsistent album for me is Plans - has some of their best work along side several completely forgettable songs.

Damn. Despite the presence of Summer Skin, which I do find to be pretty ordinary, I find Plans to be their best album.  If I had to do a Death Dab top 20, probably 6 of them alone would be from that record.  I doubt any other album would have more than 3.

I really like I Will Possess Your Heart but with an intro that long, it always felt weird as a second track to me. Always felt more like it should have been either the first, the last, or the middle (track... 6? I guess).

Agreed.  Definitely a weird spot in the running order.  That whole album just feels off, even when the songs are good. The middle of the album is a complete wasteland (tracks 5-8 all should have been thrown in the trash where they belong). 

[soupytwist]

Narrow Stairs is second only to Transatlanticism for me.   Didn't really get much from Codes and Keys or Kintsugi so didn't even bother with Thank You as it seemed to be getting similar negative reviews as those album.  Might give Asphalt a listen though as the reviews are much more positive.   The most inconsistent album for me is Plans - has some of their best work along side several completely forgettable songs.

Damn. Despite the presence of Summer Skin, which I do find to be pretty ordinary, I find Plans to be their best album.  If I had to do a Death Dab top 20, probably 6 of them alone would be from that record.  I doubt any other album would have more than 3.

I really like I Will Possess Your Heart but with an intro that long, it always felt weird as a second track to me. Always felt more like it should have been either the first, the last, or the middle (track... 6? I guess).

Agreed.  Definitely a weird spot in the running order.  That whole album just feels off, even when the songs are good. The middle of the album is a complete wasteland (tracks 5-8 all should have been thrown in the trash where they belong).

Grapevine Fires is a top ten song for me, and Twin Sized Bed wouldn't be far away either 

[Mladen]

What about You can do better than me? That's such a cute The Beach Boys influenced track. 

[Nel]

Agreed.  Definitely a weird spot in the running order.  That whole album just feels off, even when the songs are good. The middle of the album is a complete wasteland (tracks 5-8 all should have been thrown in the trash where they belong).

Songs 9, 10, & 11 are all bangers and a strong finish to that album. I love Long Division.