8hands featured disappointment: The new Death Cab for Cutie single
I'll admit it: I'm a sucker for Ben Gibbard and Death Cab for Cutie. Up until 2005's "Plans", they couldn't do no wrong, and even after that not-so-great album they remained one of my favorites bands. They tried to make it big – they wanted to take advantage of the huge respect that The O.C. gave them, and I forgave them for selling out. You know what, I'm not gonna say it out loud, but "Plans" had a few great songs in its over-mainstreamed track list.
But now I'm starting to get upset. Now they have gone too far into the what-the-hell-are-you-doing land. "I Will Possess Your Heart", The first single of their upcoming "Narrow Stairs" album is out, and Gibbard, Walla and the band have never been so pretentious.
"I Will Possess Your Heart" is an 8:36 minute long epic journey that will bore you to death (cab for cutie). It takes almost 5 minutes until Gibbard's voice appears out of the way too dramatic and not at all impressive intro, and once the man's perfect voice is finally in business, he delivers one of his weakest lyrics ever:
"You gotta spend some time / love / you gotta spend some time with me / and I know that you'll find / love / I will possess your heart".
The "Tiny Vessels" or "Styrofoam Plates" lyrics had much more heart to them, as all of the pre-2005 Death Cab lyrics had. This new one just tries to creep us out and I'm not feeling it.
And the music? C'mon! Death Cab never was and never should be a progressive rock band. Their pop aesthetics are amazing, and just because their last album tried too hard to get some MTV screen time doesn’t mean they need to veer away so off. Just give me some catchy and not too sweet tunes so I could love you again – god knows I want to.
© 8hands 2006-2007
Ben Gibbard is better on his own.
Death Cab are terrible! no wonder you got disappointed!
Wed, 03/19/2008 - 16:17
Thank god they grew away from that too-commercial pop they did on Plans.
All death cab true fans are happy with this single and think it makes the album to come promising.
Thu, 03/20/2008 - 12:29
death cab for cutie are probably the best band ever and "i will possess your heart" is their best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tue, 03/25/2008 - 15:11
i agree with most of you, a real dcfc fan will not get bored with this stuff and we're def in for a treat with this record. as always there are rich details (listen to the hi hat and how it sonically develops throughout the intro). it's not only an interesting work of art musically but also production-wise, chris walla deserves all kinds of respect for that. also love gibbard's work, less is more..
Wed, 03/26/2008 - 04:57
I'm not a very big Death Cab fan. I can't listen to their songs without getting bored after awhile, but for some reason I'm liking this one. *shrug*
Thu, 03/27/2008 - 00:28
their best? I don't think so, but I've only listened to it once and of course I wasn't listening for any "rich details" that really do make Death Cab's songs so good to listen to for a long time. I'm typical so I was just hoping for quick, witty, Styrofoam Plates lyrics that I could easily place into my AIM profile. :) But seriously, I hope the rest of the album is better lyrically than this single. I love the imagery in some of their older work and I just wasn't thrilled after listening to this. It takes me months to realize an album is brilliant, so I should really keep quiet until August.
And I can't seem to handle people saying they get bored with Death Cab. I know this is my own problem, but just from my experience I urge you to keep listening to their older albums.
Wed, 04/02/2008 - 17:16
The lyrics, yeah, they're not their best, but the whole song is not boring...
The album is freaking amazing. Talking Bird, Pity and Fear, The Ice is Getting Thinner are awesome! This is their best effort ever, in my opinion.
Fri, 04/11/2008 - 10:05
How would you know?
I bet you listened to the dcfc imitation called velveteen.
Their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/velveteenmusic
Sun, 04/13/2008 - 09:54
I agree that it was a little different, but I also like the new album. I also really liked the long beginning of I Will Possess Your Heart as well. But I don't know, I like about all their songs. They could probably remake Smack That by Akon and I might even like it, haha.
Sat, 05/17/2008 - 22:20
i actually really like this song, at first i thought it was a little bit creepy and i didn't like it much but as with most songs once you get over that judgemental phase where you're criticizing everything about the song/album/band it's actually pretty good. just listen with open ears and stop worrying so much about how many people listen to the band and what-not and if you still don't like it then fine, but don't bash a band for becoming successful when you should actually be really happy for them.
Thu, 05/29/2008 - 06:15
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