.bmp)
After spending the better part of a decade in the musical minor leagues, Death Cab for Cutie went pro with 2005's Plans, a record whose optimism and bright, Technicolor sound gave the band enough leverage to enter the mainstream. "Soul Meets Body" became their biggest rock single to date, but it was Ben Gibbard's delicate love song, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," that earned the quartet a Grammy nomination and legions of new fans. Some bands might have taken a cue from that success and resigned themselves to a career of acoustic ballads, not unlike the Goo Goo Dolls' transformation in the mid-'90s. But Narrow Stairs roughs up Plans' bright palette with something starker, more harrowing, and altogether darkened by Gibbard's blues. No longer crooning about love or his desire to embrace all of Manhattan, the frontman lives inside his own troubled head on these 11 tracks — or at least the heads of the characters he conjures up with ease, like some music-minded novelist with a knack for pop melodies and witty observations. There's "Cath," an ill-married girl who "holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child," as well as the creepy stalker in "I Will Possess Your Heart," who simply demands that his intended lover give him the time of day. Elsewhere, Gibbard sings about a friend's recent heartbreak by referencing her bedroom furniture ("Your New Twin Sized Bed"), offering up his concern — if not quite his help — while the band conjures up a lazy summer's day beneath him, layering gauzy keyboards with chiming guitar riffs. This sort of contrast between music and text plays an occasional role on Narrow Stairs, with songs like "No Sunlight" and "Long Division" pairing somber lyrics with upbeat, happy orchestration. But the album largely paints itself as the darker, mysterious cousin to Plans — raw rather than polished, heartbroken rather than optimistic, enigmatic rather than energetic. Gibbard strings his words together with an army of free-flowing "ands" and "buts", and the resulting lyrics — long, uncoiling sentences with no clear end — mirror his characters' desperatation. Narrow Stairs is far from desperate, however, and the album's willingness to steer Death Cab into unfamiliar territory (or, to reference an earlier lyric, "into the dark"), is by far its biggest strength.
Formed: 1997 in Bellingham, WAGenre: AlternativeYears Active: '90s, '00s, '10sDeath Cab for Cutie's rise from small-time solo project to Grammy-nominated rock band is one of indie rock's greatest success stories. Launched in the bayside college town of Bellingham, Washington, the group was originally a side project for singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, an engineering student at Western Washington University who split his time between school and music. Taking a break from his local power pop band, Pinwheel, Gibbard began recording an album's worth of solo material during the summer... Full BioAlready have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now.
iTunes for Mac + PC Open iTunes to preview, buy, and download music. Formed: 1997 in Bellingham, WAGenre: AlternativeYears Active: '90s, '00s, '10sDeath Cab for Cutie's rise from small-time solo project to Grammy-nominated rock band is one of indie rock's greatest success stories. Launched in the bayside college town of Bellingham, Washington, the group was originally a side project for singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard, an engineering student at Western Washington University who split his time between school and music. Taking a break from his local power pop band, Pinwheel, Gibbard began recording an album's worth of solo material during the summer... Full BioWe have not received enough ratings to display an average for this album. Somewhat sneakily, as they honed their blend of new wave, synth pop, soft rock, and all things '80s for the better part of a decade, Phoenix became one of the most influential acts of the 2000s and 2010s. When they married that distinctive style to some of their strongest songs on 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, that album's mainstream success felt like a well-earned reward for their years of defining a sound that had permeated a lot of pop culture. Its follow-up, Bankrupt!, isn't nearly as devoid of new ideas as its title suggests, but it doesn't feel like quite the leap forward Wolfgang was compared to what came before it. Not that it necessarily needs to be; Phoenix sound more comfortable and confident than ever on songs like the lead single, "Entertainment," which defines almost everything that they do on the rest of the album with its galloping beats, earnest vocals, and Asian-tinged keyboard melodies. "Trying to Be Cool," "Don't," and "Oblique City" also carry over the bouncy irresistibility of the band's breakthrough, and even if they don't have the star-making power that "1901" and "Lisztomania" did, they reveal Phoenix's deep love and even deeper knowledge of '80s pop magic in their deft major-to-minor key changes and strategically placed buildups and breakdowns. These little touches help the band stand out among its like-minded contemporaries, and it helps that Phoenix have been drawing inspiration from the '80s longer than that decade actually existed (the fact that they mixed Bankrupt! on the console used in the making of Michael Jackson's Thriller might have contributed some good '80s karma as well). Elsewhere, they pay lip service to another of that decade's icons with "Drakkar Noir," and the way Thomas Mars pronounces it almost makes the overbearing cologne cool again. Here and on "The Real Thing," the band ponders and crosses the line between real and fake, taking it to new levels on "S.O.S. in Bel Air," which could reignite the debate between Strokes and Phoenix fans over who copied who first (and who does it better). Later on, things get interesting — particularly for longtime fans — when the band indulges its experimental side on songs like the seven-minute title track, which prefaces Mars' vocals with a lengthy stretch of baroque keyboards, and the expansive melancholy of "Chloroform" and "Bourgeois." Even if moments like these aren't exactly in keeping with the sound that broke Phoenix, they're a reminder that the bandmembers ultimately became popular by being themselves. Bankrupt! lets them celebrate with a victory lap that's enjoyable for all concerned. [A double-disc version of Bankrupt! that included 71 "sketches" from the album's recording sessions was also released.]
by chris.doc It's going to be epic. by jason4400 Looks peachy.... sounds peachy..... Peachy..... by autobahnsau Dear Itunes,It's so unfair to release a teaser like this. It breeds obsessive listening to a single track and makes me pine for something I cannot have, which only makes me want it more... sigh...
Phoenix will dominate again with Bankrupt! Can't wait! Formed: 1995 in Paris, FranceGenre: AlternativeYears Active: '90s, '00s, '10sThe French group Phoenix draw elements from their eclectic '80s upbringing to arrive at a satisfying blend of rock and synthesizers. Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d'Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai were a garage band based out of Mars' house in the suburbs of Paris. Mazzalai's... Full Bio
Somewhat sneakily, as they honed their blend of new wave, synth pop, soft rock, and all things '80s for the better part of a decade, Phoenix became one of the most influential acts of the 2000s and 2010s. When they married that distinctive style to some of their strongest songs on 2009's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix, that album's mainstream success felt like a well-earned reward for their years of defining a sound that had permeated a lot of pop culture. Its follow-up, Bankrupt!, isn't nearly as devoid of new ideas as its title suggests, but it doesn't feel like quite the leap forward Wolfgang was compared to what came before it. Not that it necessarily needs to be; Phoenix sound more comfortable and confident than ever on songs like the lead single, "Entertainment," which defines almost everything that they do on the rest of the album with its galloping beats, earnest vocals, and Asian-tinged keyboard melodies. "Trying to Be Cool," "Don't," and "Oblique City" also carry over the bouncy irresistibility of the band's breakthrough, and even if they don't have the star-making power that "1901" and "Lisztomania" did, they reveal Phoenix's deep love and even deeper knowledge of '80s pop magic in their deft major-to-minor key changes and strategically placed buildups and breakdowns. These little touches help the band stand out among its like-minded contemporaries, and it helps that Phoenix have been drawing inspiration from the '80s longer than that decade actually existed (the fact that they mixed Bankrupt! on the console used in the making of Michael Jackson's Thriller might have contributed some good '80s karma as well). Elsewhere, they pay lip service to another of that decade's icons with "Drakkar Noir," and the way Thomas Mars pronounces it almost makes the overbearing cologne cool again. Here and on "The Real Thing," the band ponders and crosses the line between real and fake, taking it to new levels on "S.O.S. in Bel Air," which could reignite the debate between Strokes and Phoenix fans over who copied who first (and who does it better). Later on, things get interesting — particularly for longtime fans — when the band indulges its experimental side on songs like the seven-minute title track, which prefaces Mars' vocals with a lengthy stretch of baroque keyboards, and the expansive melancholy of "Chloroform" and "Bourgeois." Even if moments like these aren't exactly in keeping with the sound that broke Phoenix, they're a reminder that the bandmembers ultimately became popular by being themselves. Bankrupt! lets them celebrate with a victory lap that's enjoyable for all concerned. [A double-disc version of Bankrupt! that included 71 "sketches" from the album's recording sessions was also released.]
by chris.doc It's going to be epic. by jason4400 Looks peachy.... sounds peachy..... Peachy..... by autobahnsau Dear Itunes,It's so unfair to release a teaser like this. It breeds obsessive listening to a single track and makes me pine for something I cannot have, which only makes me want it more... sigh...
Phoenix will dominate again with Bankrupt! Can't wait! Formed: 1995 in Paris, FranceGenre: AlternativeYears Active: '90s, '00s, '10sThe French group Phoenix draw elements from their eclectic '80s upbringing to arrive at a satisfying blend of rock and synthesizers. Vocalist Thomas Mars, bassist Deck d'Arcy, and guitarist Christian Mazzalai were a garage band based out of Mars' house in the suburbs of Paris. Mazzalai's... Full Bio
The Exchange Rates are powered by Investing.com.