Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
There are two reasons I return to DCFC from time to time - Ben Gibbard’s singing and his songs. I like that he is not a singer, but comes across well because he stays relaxed, and expresses ideas rather than techniques. When I sing, if I put that approach in my mind’s ear, I tend to stay happier with myself. Certainly Gibbard didn’t invent that approach, and I frankly prefer Bill Callahan’s singing on Smog albums from the turn of the century, but I have to admit that Gibbard’s singing is what I think of more often. I prefer DCFC’s version of “All is Full of Love” to Bjork’s original.
His songs tend to have overwrought lyrics, which I overlook because his choice of subject tends to be oblique. Residing in pop music, his metaphors typically keep love emotions as the tenor, but the vehicle may be something like a torn up vinyl seat in a restaurant, or a forgotten lock left over from a haircut in happier times. (Maybe I should write those songs before Gibbard does…) You have to give credit to people who aren’t just churning out typical fare.
The structures of his songs are often decent, too. In “I Will Follow You into the Dark” above, the main melodic phrase is a whole verse long (edit - actually the verse is two phrases. His melodic structures are still good). I love that stuff.
This album, though? Seems to find him singing into pitch-correction software, or maybe he’s just learned to sing. The songs are also more rote. I like “IWFYitD” - I like it a lot - and I was hoping to find 11 tracks of that. The lyrics are probably good, but I don’t know because the production pushes them back in the mix with effects and instrumentation.
1 year ago
