Death Cab for Cutie Album: “Transatlanticism”

"I'm waiting for another repeat; Another diet fed by crippling defeat."

"Death Cab for Cutie", a band whose music is as unforgettable as its name, has truely hit the mark with this album. And while it may be somewhat of a repeat in style; its a sound far from being defeated, or drowned out.

That lyric, in the song 'Expo 86', shoots out of Ben Gibbards mouth with nothing but conviction and emotion, on Death Cabs newest and extraordinary record "Transatlanticism".

This record is wonderful, and should please fans of the band, and attract newcomers also. At times its honest, melodic, loud, soft, Sad, surreal, emotional....and sometimes all in the same song.

The songs range from confessionals: "Tiny Vessels"(confessions of a bad relationship)"Title and Registration"(A picture in a glove compartment brings back memories of regret); to character studies: "Death of an Interior Decorator"; and songs about ageing, the passing of time, and memories: "The New Year", "The Sound of Settling", "We Looked Like Giants".

This album seems to be a story about growing up, and about looking back at everything behind, and wondering about everything in front. Its a blissful masterwork by one of the best bands making music these days. Its truely a gem.

This is the first Death Cab For Cutie album I have ever bought, and I must say its everything I wanted it to be and then some. For those of you who are just browsing this review and don't know much about the band, I urge you to check them out. This album is relaxing and poetic, brilliant and easy to the ear. I would have to say the standouts are:

The New Year-Opens the Album Perfectly, I could swear I had heard this song somewhere before I bought the album.

Title and Registration- Great Lyrics and I must say a great title to the song, will have you thinking.

Expo '86-One of the smoothest songs on the album, it has a great beat.

The Sound Of Settling- It's the only song I knew before I bought the album, it's short but very catchy, I love it.

Tiny Vessels-Lyrics I think a lot of people can relate to, just put together nicely.

Tranatlantism-This is in my opinion the best song on the album, a huge buildup with some great lyrics. I think its simply incredible.

A Lack of Color-Great acoustic to end the album, this song is beautiful.

As you can see I think that there are many standouts, I love the whole album even if every song doesn't stand out to me. If you enjoy bands like The Shins or Modest Mouse, I think you will dig Death Cab For Cutie.

For an album that is perfect for all types of places, moods, and people, I award with five stars.

Well, this isn't a review by a child. This album has touched me, helped me, inspired me, moved me. This is by far the finest piece of lyrical and extreme musical genius i have come across in years. Get this and you will not be disappointed.

1.The New Year: upbeat, but not repulsively happy. a real attention grabber. 5/5

2.Lightness: not the most fabulous song on the album, but very honest and clear. 4/5

3.Title and Registration: one of the best songs I've heard in a long time. The music's addictive. The lyrics are brilliant, going from a whimsical commentary on how the glove compartment really shoudn't be called that and moving on smoothly and elegantly to speak of a past rediscovered where gloves should be found. wow. 6/5

4.Expo '86: upbeat tempo, with rather melancholy lyric. it's great. 4.5/5

5.The lyrics are incredible, but the music just isn't all that compelling. still good though. 4/5

6.Tiny Vessels: true, honest, revealing, calming, this is beautiful. 5/5

7.Transatlanticism: clearly one of the most amazing songs ever. 8 minutes sounds like a long song, but you can absoluely lose yourself in its hauntingly gorgeous melody. This is ingenious. 6/5

8.Passenger Seat: it's such a simple song, baisically just piano and ben singing, but it's incredible. you can just feel each refreshed and calm breath the song holds. 5/5

9.Death of an Interior Decorator: a fine song, just not my thing really. it's different from the rest of the album. don't relaly have that much of a view on it.

10.We Looked like Giants: this is where they really rock out. a lot of emotion, not too much though. so good! 6/5

11.A lack of Color: pretty much the best closing song this album could possibly have. there is an element of straight forward honesty never before reached. 5.5/6

I believe this album is one of the finest ever, and am blown away.

Death Cab for Cutie....can they do no wrong? I don't believe so.

This is one of those bands I'd heard of for awhile (catchy band name), and a buddy of mine just turned me on to this disc and PLANS about a month ago, along with 2 of their bootleg concerts. I'm impressed. PLANS has been in my car CD player for a few weeks now, and this one has been in my bedside CD radio, which makes for pleasant waking up in the morning. As the guy from San Francisco mentioned in his Aprill 22, 2006 review, I'm also in my 50's and have loved most contemporary rock from the mid-60's up to today. If this is truly an "emo" band (which comes off as kind of a derogatory term), then sign me up. I like this one a little better than PLANS and won't go into individual reviews of each song (all of which I like), but for me the high point of the disc is the title track. The way the song starts out on a low-key narration and builds to its astounding climax with the chorus of "I need you so much closer/So come on..." just blows me away. Beautiful. I hope to have the good fortune of seeing these guys in concert soon. If you haven't heard their stuff yet and are considering it, I couldn't recommend this CD more as a primer.

I've been a deathcab fan for about a year after a friend of mine played "we have the facts and we're voting yes" for me. I was very impressed and thus i was led to find the forbidden love ep and the photo album, both of which are incredible. So, being a pretty loyal fan, i was worried that the band couldn't continue their history of fantastic albums, especially after Ben Gibbard had just put so much work into the Postal Service (which is also incredible, by the way ). I was wrong. Transatlanticism in many ways is their best album because the band has learned to keep their intricate music based around an upfront, central melody which is flawlessly provided by Gibbard. Gibbards lyrics are what they usually are, musical poetry that revolve around long distance relatiosnhips with the exception of We Looked Like Giants which is a haunting account of a young physical relationship. This somewhat singular lyrical topic may be the only fault in the album. The real genius in the band however remains Chriss Walla, the keyboarding guitar playing wizard whose impressive guitar effects add depth to the music just as they do on previous albums. Also, the band took a lesson from the poppy bouncy Postal service in songs like Sound of Settling and Lightness. I recommend this album to newcomers and veterans alike. Yes, it's different but it's new and interesting and extremely good.