I gave Death Cab for Cutie’s sixth (!) full-length a fair listen today for the first time. Overall, it has a lot more going on than their last album, Plans (which I didn’t like at all), but it definitely feels like a major-label release. Whereas early DCFC albums did so much with so little, this album feels like they had every resource in the world and just ended up running a bit dry.
Their opening track is a real winner, which hasn’t happened for me since their second album, so I’m thankful for that. Unfortunately, their closing track is especially weak, which is usually not the case with these guys. There are some tracks in between as well, and most are decent, although some are pretty unoriginal.
The lyrics are borderline embarrassing. Older DCFC albums were full of personal, provocative and memorable descriptive paintings, but this album’s lyrics seems a little forced. And fake.
Initial score: 54 out of 100
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