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Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs

15th May 2008 | by Ross Riley

It's now more than ten years since Ben Gibbard first decided to turn Death Cab For Cutie into a full-time band and here we are seven albums richer for the journey.

Narrow Stairs is the band's second major label release, the 2005 album 'Plans' received a mixed response when it was released although it certainly exhibited Death Cab's incredible talent for maturing with age.

The impression that rises to the surface on Narrow Stairs is that the production has been pared down to create a more subtle and translucent sounding album. There's still the trademark melodic hooks and the lazy sounding atmosphere that washes around the softly spoken guitars, but this is coupled with a more direct songwriting style.

The album kicks into life with the slow burning�Bixby Canyon Bridge, "I descended a dusty gravel ridge" Ben Gibbard sings as the album oozes into flow. The track crescendoes into the eight and a half minute epic that is the lead single 'I Will Possess Your Heart'.

The first few times you hear the track, the four minute wandering intro seems almost pointless, but with age the instrumental seems to build up anticipation before the vocals spring into action. Listening to the shortened radio edit doesn't carry the same weight of musical adventurism that the album version possesses.

Elsewhere on the album there's a mix and match of hits and misses. 'Cath' is almost classic Death Cab material with the playful rhythmic verse and chorus interaction, on the other hand tracks like 'You Can Do Better Than Me' and 'Twin Sized Bed' whilst being lyrically excellent seem almost whimsical when placed alongside the band's better material.

The crucial point where this album sinks slightly below it's predecessor is in it's lack of real stand out material. Whereas 'Plans' had the soaring atmospherics of Marching Bands of Manhattan and the claustrophobic, haunting beauty of Summer Skin, Narrow Stairs seems slightly paler in comparison.

It would be wrong to say that Narrow Stairs is a disappointing album, in many ways it seems a more complete and even album than any of its predecessors but conversely the lack of spiky�aberrations�leaves a sound that seems a little too predictable and dare we say more matured than we've seen from Death Cab before now.

Narrow Stairs is a qualified success in that existing fans will find enough to enjoy even savour. It may also be a good entry point for those of you that have yet to succumb to the band's sound. Narrow Stairs is the sound of a band not quite ready to break away from the past but equally not quite able to eclipse it.