4/5
Let’s go back in time ‘mdash; way back, to 1998, when Lewinsky was humping Clinton, the economy was up and a couple kids were strumming chords at a little college called Western Washington University. Back then, Death Cab for Cutie hailed from rainy-day Bellingham and its first LP, Something About Airplanes, was still firmly rooted in the land of sedated indie sparkle-flies. Fast-forward 10 years to a platinum record, a major-label contract, multiple world tours ‘mdash; could anyone have guessed they’d get so far? The quartet’s gone from comatose to powerhouse in a matter of albums; now, they’re headlining a U.S. tour with the scantily-clad EP The Open Door.
Guess all those love songs paid off. The five-track list of earnest relationship fixer-uppers was cut straight out of the amped-up, atmosphere-swirled Narrow Stairs. And it’s pretty obvious why ‘mdash; they’re are all doped-up and giggly, too fun for the muscled-up gold LP. ‘Little Bribes’ is a case in point: a twangy, folky jaunt that hails back to basics (Fleetwood Mac status) and pits Ben Gibbard’s tunes against his world-weary ways. ‘You said that you were lonely/ And then you kissed like lonely people do’ wades a bit too deep for a summer swim. Brownie points, then, to ‘A Diamond and a Tether’ ‘mdash; Chris Walla’s space-guitars actually fit the star-crossed mood. ‘I know that you can’t hold out forever,’ Gibbard admits (no doubt to at-home fianc’eacute;e Zooey Deschanel), and just like that, captures the essence of long-distance love.
Death Cab for Cutie’s come a long way from Transatlanticism (still a top-five indie fave), but it’s this effortless spirit that will carry the band through all the multiplatinum records to come. Even if money’s got them responsibilities (mainly, babies), they’re still young ‘mdash; just over 30. And if Paul McCartney can’hellip; Baby, age ain’t nothin’ but a number.