Death Cab for Cutie song.
Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard has been singing songs about anxiety and despair for 25 years. Those who love his doom-and-gloom rock needn’t worry because time hasn’t made him any more chipper. John Congleton produced their 10th album, and it is full of dread.
Death Cab for Cutie
Atlantic, Sept. 16
8/10
The first song on the album, “I Don’t Know How I Survive”, is about a panic attack in the middle of the night: “Pacing across the room while she’s asleep/ Tears raining down your cheeks/ Trying to hold on.” It features handclaps, rhythmic guitar and twinkling synths, which all make their way into a distorted guitar at the chorus.
There is a loud, distorted bass and a sharp, piercing guitar line. “I used to feel everything like a flame, now it’s a struggle to feel anything, I am learning to let go, they all explode like roman candles.”
“Your kiss was a lonely prayer when you slipped it into my mouth,” is the opening line of the title track. The sound of the chorus is very reminiscent of The Cure, and the drumming is very ’80s- sounding. A song about having to use a map to find one’s way. The swaying verse gave way to a straight-ahead chorus. The line “don’t let the light fade” in the chorus is repeated at the end of the song. The song can be interpreted as a tribute to fans and former members of the band, for whom Gibbard will keep the light going as he continues with Death Cab.
There is a steady toe-tapping beat and a recurring thought that all the actors in the movies are dead. He loves falling in love with bones and ashes. The hooky part could have been the basis for a song alone. The song’s main refrain is, “I want to know the measure from here to forever/ I want to feel the pressure of God or whatever.”
The Death Cab for Cutie sound with the chiming guitars and repeated lyrics is present in “Foxglove Through the Clearcut.” It seems like it sums up most of Death Cab’s ouvre. The album cover with two figures in ponchos matches the mood. Readers in the Bay Area will recognize the view as foggy San Francisco. We are told that Gibbard snapped the shot while he was running.
One of the strongest tracks on the album is the song “Pepper.” It’s a beautiful song about the demise of a relationship. A voice and acoustic guitar precede a simple piano over a drum loop. Take a picture to remember me, and to show everybody who you left behind, and I was a city you were only passing through. The sentiment of the chorus is similar to Jeff Buckley’s “last goodbye.”
Many of us can relate to the saying, “I miss strangers more than my friends.” Most of the music in this song is very upbeat, with a driving rhythm guitar, but the bridge slows the tune down to a Pink Floyd-like reverie that has Gibbard begging for someone to reach out.
The song “Wheat Like Waves” is about a best friend and how they used to listen to Prefab Sprout in the Honda Accord.
It was a high note for Asphalt Meadows. The song is called “I’ll Never Give Up On You” and features heavy drumming and an orchestral synthesizer. “I have given up on aspiration, I have given up on ever being cool, I have given up on the drugs that made me restless, and the alcohol that made me cruel, but I’ll never give up on you.” He has a great album to show for it, and he hasn’t given up on Death Cab for Cutie despite all this time.
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