May 12 2008 11:51 am,
4.0
Death Cab For Cutie
‘Narrow Stairs’
(Atlantic)
‘Narrow Stairs’ sees Death Cab For Cutie on relentless form with an onslaught that veers from the opening arpeggio guitars and dreamy falsetto of ‘
Bixby
Canyon
Bridge’ to the bass-laden Lalo Schifrin 70s theatrics of ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ with gloriously schizophrenic juxtaposition. A focused piece of work, DCFC once again prove themselves masters of the bigger picture, producing an album that, rather than trudging song-to-song, weaves a musical tapestry, with each track bleeding into the next with breathless sequence. Indeed, the splicing together of closing couplet ‘Pity And Fear’ and ‘The Ice Is Getting Thinner’ tends to scare the shit out of one – the former’s mid-song power-out suddenly giving way to the emollient balladry of the latter.
‘Narrow Stairs’ is a spiralling ascent that demands you expect the unexpected… at every turn. Magnificent.
Stephen Brolan
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