Death Cab For Cutie -Codes And Keys.

Wed 1st Jun, 2011 in Music Reviews

Codes and Keys is the seventh studio album for Washington sad sacks Death Cab for Cutie and arguably one of their finest efforts to date.

Jason McGerr’s rapid-fire drums, complimented by some pulsating bass, in opener Home Is A Fire, pay homage to the more vintage Death Cab, as Ben Gibbard’s vocals return to the submerged underwater style of albums passed, garnished with his trademark falsetto of melancholic optimism. Title track Codes and Keys follows in a piano-orientated affair that shows the band have very much departed from the guitar-centred Narrow Stairs. Solemn in its melody, but upbeat lyrically, Gibbard has clearly beaten the demons that plagued their self-loathing 2008 album.

Some Boys has Gibbard’s voice lightly waltzing through the chants of “some boys don’t know how to love”, while lead single You Are a Tourist sounds like he’s singing his heart into and echoing canyon. Its enlightening guitar rift, jingling keys, bobbling bass and tight knit drum work, assemble one of the bands most impressive efforts in keeping to their roots while spanning towards a more popular outreach similarly achieved by Plans.

Unobstructed Views is the epic of the album. Its gradual building piano from Chris Walla, also the album’s producer, is filled with eerie intermissions doesn’t quite reach the yearning heights of Transatlanticism, or the drive and subtle creepiness of I Will Possess Your Heart. In fact the track is probably the opposite to both of those. It best signifies the point in Gibbard’s life he has reached, “there’s no eye in the sky, just our love” beckons from him, more than likely alluding to his discovery of love dragging from the depths of his dark corners – Gibbard recently confessed to being a recovering alcoholic.

The album really hits its stride upon reaching Monday Morning. The sweetness of Gibbard sends a shiver down the spine, in a poppy effort that is compelled by the sauntering bass of Nick Harmer. Portable Television is an idyllic gather-around-the-piano type track that jingles along buoyantly, while galloping drum work makes its more dimensional on a sonic plane.

St Peter’s Cathedral begins to wind down Codes and Keys, in a song that builds from just Gibbard and minor piano, to a storm of sounds including the whole band. The repeated line of “there’s nothing passed it” with Gibbard adding some nice background accapella, make this more epic than the actual epic. Finally the album comes its grand finish with Stay Young, Go Dancing. Positive affirmations, some beautiful string arrangements and charming lyrics including the infatuating “’cause when she sings, I hear a symphony” bring a sweeping climax to an album that will surely see this band reap rewards they sincerely deserve.