Ropeadope

Unlike 2005's yawn-inducing Plans, Death Cab for Cutie's seventh studio album, Narrow Stairs, is fresh. So fresh, that while listening to this record, I got the same feeling I felt when I heard the band for the first time years and years ago. The five-minute album opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" even sounds like something the group would have written during the earlier days of Photo Album. In fact, a lot of these tunes possess that same quality: songs that focus less on moody build-up and more on unabashed rocking.

However, there are some misfires here that provide some passing interest, but not much more than that. One particular gripe I have is with the 8-minute-long "I Will Possess Your Heart." It begins with five minutes of uninteresting repetition followed by your standard Ben Gibbard musings about unrequited love. C'mon, Gibbard, at least try.

But two or three duds aside, it's hard to hate on this record. Besides manning his guit-fiddle, Chris Walla also doubled as producer and I must say, the production on Narrow Stairs is damn-near perfect. This might be one of the best sounding indie-rock records of 2008. The bass is thick and commanding and the guitars are dirty and ready for action.

This record is by no means perfect but it's nice to see that DCFC has somewhat returned to their origins and produced something fresh for the summer.