Death Cab For Cutie has painted my twenties a bittersweet hue with their intense, yet often simple, lyrics and messages. Sometimes the verbiage is obvious, but I always forgive them for such, as they have a style so unique that I can now (ironically) hear their influence in so many contemporary bands/acts (The Decemberists, Fanfarlo, Plushgun, Owl City, The Shins, Coldplay) that they pre-date. I got my first taste of DCFC when I was 19 and heard a song, which remains one of my favorites, called Styrofoam Plates, a rancorous anti-patriarchal track that remained beautiful within its vulnerable and morose anger.
The new album, Codes And Keys, is pretty great so far. None of the tracks are listed below because I have only had the album a few days, but I definitely recommend it! Great album and one of the best of the year so far, for me.
Here are my favorite FIVE Death Cab For Cutie tracks. I'm so excited to see them tonight for the second time. But, this time it's in a real club (9:30 Club), not that polished turd of a venue at D.A.R. Constitutional Hall.
5.) Marching Bands Of Manhattan
This is a track that means the world to me. I still listen to it nearly every time I am entering Manhattan. I also attach some fond memories of an old friend to the track, which helps bring it to even more life that it probably merits. It's a gorgeous, lush track about the eternal optimism that love can spring, despite the sadness in many of our existences.
4.) What Sarah Said
"And it came to me then that every plan is a tiny prayer to Father Time." A song about mourning and appreciating the risks you take, even when they lead to failure, sadness, or the inevitable death. "Love is watching someone die." BTW- this video is pretty fucking amazing.
3.) Styrofoam Plates
The first track I'd ever heard from Death Cab, from a pretty amazing album, The Photo Album, which marked a new sense of maturity in the band's sound. I've already remarked on what this song means to me, but I can't stress enough how much it changed my tastes. After The Photo Album came the best album DCFC has made, from which the only two songs better than "Styrofoam Plates" came.
2.) A Lack Of Color
The perfect album ending track, "A Lack Of Color" still gives me goosebumps. Simple, beautiful, acoustic guitar driven, and one of my favorite songs ever. The perfect late night driving song. "This is fact, not fiction, for the first time in years..."
1.) Transatlanticism
I am still very much moved by this song. It is an awe-inspiring piece that is the highlight of an album that I doubt DCFC will ever top. It is nothing short of the most gorgeous piece of music they've ever produced. A song to which anyone who cannot be with their loved one(s) can relate. Or, anyone who has loved and felt the inundation (through the repeated water allusions) that such complicated emotion brings. I love this song so much.
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