Death Cab for Cutie Plans

 Death Cab for Cutie

Plans

Though it's their fifth album, Death Cab for Cutie try to avoid falling into the sophomore slump with Plans.  After the commercial success of 2003’s Transatlanticism and critical acclaim from The OC’s Seth Cohen, DCFC decided to leave Barsuk Records and sign with the big boys (Atlantic).   

Moving to a major label has its pressures.  The record company shells out a lot of money in recording and promotion costs and expects a significant return on their investment.  It’s nothing, though, compared to the pressure of legions of indie fans just waiting for you to release a bad record so they can start talking about how they liked you before you sold out.     

Indie naysayers will have to keep waiting.  Plans is as good as anything from the Death Cab catalog.  The band follows same pattern of drawn-out dreamy melodies they began with Something About Airplanes and really started perfecting on Transatlanticism. 

The album opens with some if its strongest tracks, “Marching Bands of Manhattan,” “Soul Meets Body,” and the nostalgic “Summer Skin.”  Maybe it’s lead singer Ben Gibbards’ recent work with techno artists, or just guitarist Chris Walla’s production skills, but the second half of “Different Names for the Same Thing” sounds like it could just as easily be a Postal Service track.  (If we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get a Postal Service remix.) 

The only slip ups on the album are the out-of-place-sounding “Crooked Teeth” and the album closer “Stable Song,” which was meant as a cool-down, but is more like a sleeping pill.  Overall, Plans feels cohesive and familiar, without sounding recycled. 

I’m happy because with this record because I know Seth Cohen will be happy with it.