HOME – 16.0
I wanted to hate this so bad. From the band name – top one worst band names of all time, even ahead of Anal C*** - to the fact that Ben Gibbard married Zooey Deschanel and I didn’t, I just wanted to hate it. But I can’t. It’s actually pretty good. The end gets a little repetitious, but I think that’s part of the artistry, the sort of musical equivalent of the yearning across time and space. And I really dig that shit, so to speak. I love when the music speaks to you just as much as the lyrics (Evidence of Autumn, by Genesis, Turn Of The Century by Yes). I’m not sure I could listen to that over and over, as it’s a little bleak, but it communicates what it needs to communicate, and I’m a big fan of that. The b-side was, well, a b-side. Well crafted and well-played, it does sort of highlight the problem with some of the more “emo” alternative bands; it’s a little wordy (I know, Chad, right?) and that wordiness seems to get in the way of the flow at times, but it’s a good song, and it certainly has a poignancy to it that’s hard to deny.
Wow why the hate on the band name, it;s a pretty cool Beatles reference. I just think it is a bit misleading, as it sounds like a death metal band name. It's funny you think what is probably their most famous song is well, a b-side. Glad you liked Transatlanticism, completely agree about the end
I'll send this afternoon!
Oh, it's totally my preconception; I'm not a huge fan of the sort of "emo hipster" music that the critics love, and "Death Cab For Cutie" fits into that (for me). Some of that stuff just seems too clever for its own good, and I sort of think "irony" is wasted on music. I'm more interested in the sort of youthful earnestness of 70's, and even 80's, rock over the more self-aware youthfulness of the grunge and post-grunge music. I like unabashed bombast and naive pretension over the sort of reluctant bombast and ironic pretension of stuff like Nirvana. To me, something like Courtney Barnett is BO-ring, not cute, not funny, not relevant.
Sorry, my opinion only, and of course if someone feels different, I respect that. I loved your story, and almost feel bad shitting on a song (or two) that mean something to you. For me, that's the ultimate test of music anyway, whether it connects with someone.
The song that "felt like a b-side" was really because of the way the song was structured. Sometimes "simple" is "better", and it seemed a little wordy and... not "forced" exactly, but like it was a rough take and there would be "editing" later. Have you ever heard the demo versions of Kayleigh, by Marillion? Or the demos of the aborted album that would have come after "Clutching At Straws"? Fish had not yet finalized the lyrics and he was clearly searching for not only the subject matter but the voice and the cadence of the words, and the second DCFC song felt like that. Not bad, in fact it was a good song, but it was the impression and the feel that led me to sort of think of it as a b-side.