They’ve been around quite a while and I’m still scratching the surface with their past work. Death Cab for Cutie do tend to evolve as time goes by and some of their work has been unduly criticised or overlooked for sounding too different from x to y. Here’s one I recently pulled out and gave a spin.
Ask most of their fans which is their best work and invariably you’ll get answers relating to the early work particularly from the early millennium. Reigning high is 2003 release ‘Transatlanticism‘. Well I’m not a die hard fan but I do love the band generally speaking. My brain is wired up differently and I listen for things that hook me in, stir something deep within. So far my all time fav would have to be the 2011 masterpiece ‘Codes and Keys’ (must review this) and that is not generally regarded in the top 10.
First listen – the 2018 ‘Thank You for Today’ is very much a ‘Codes and Keys’ sound. Very melodic, beautiful sounds, intricate clever word play and flows well but the overall thing didn’t hit me like the latter did. It’s the age old problem if you love a certain album so much nothing else is going to beat it.
Second spin – hang on it is a really good album that holds its own. Way better than some reviews have suggested, in fact it is already my second fav.
Subsequent spins – this is a very good album, has the sound and feel that I love in ‘Codes and Keys’ but not quite a beater. It’s music reflects into the past, reminiscent of various events, a reflection of thoughts that are quite deep in places over the odd pop rift. It is essentially a cool album so thumbs up.
When We Drive (fan video)
Canned Static 