Categories : Music Reviews, Rock + Pop.
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Rating: 4 / 5 Reviewer: David Coats |
A funny thing happened during the making of Death Cab For Cutie’s 2008 full-length, Narrow Stairs: they managed to omit four of the best songs from those sessions, now gathered off the scrap heap for release on The Open Door EP. DCFC announced prior to the release of Narrow Stairs that they wanted to open new doors (as it were) for themselves musically, moving away from the picture-perfect pop of Plans toward a heavier sound. Ironically, these four outtakes are not only all heavier than any of Narrow Stairs“heavy” material, they are also all better songs, ranking among the best and most interesting material from the band to date.
Listen to 5 seconds of opener ‘Little Bribes’ and you’ll be both instantly hooked and surprised. A rare foray into blues-based, riff-oriented rock (complete with “uh c’mon” vocals), the song is Ben Gibbard’s lyrical ode to Las Vegas (“You pretend that every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello”), and comes as close to cynicism as Chris Walla’s voice is capable of delivering. ‘A Diamond And A Tether’ and ‘I Was Once A Loyal Lover’ continue in DCFC’s tradition of expertly and easily articulating mid-20s angst and relational pessimism, with melodies so strong and basic you’ll swear they must have been done before. ‘My Mirror Speaks’ packs a soaring chorus with an organic rhythmic punch that would have given Narrow Stairs some badly-needed momentum.
The EP closes with a demo of ‘Talking Bird.’ It has its moments (especially the lyric “It’s hard to see your way out when you live in a house in a house”), but wasn’t one of Stairs‘ more essential songs, and will mostly leave you asking how this was the only track of these five that made the full-length’s track list.
While Narrow Stairs wasn’t a bad effort, you’ll shake your head realizing how much better it could have been. Better late than never for these songs.
