This Death Cab not worth the tab

Interesting and/or puzzling lyrics can't fulfill all wants and needs.

By Kara Henderson

Published April 13, 2009

Last May, Death Cab for Cutie released their sixth full-length album, Narrow Stairs, a heartbreaking album centered on generally depressing themes. Musically, there wasn't much to Narrow Stairs, and many long-time fans were left wishing for releases more like their early ones (at least I was). Now we are left with the Open Door EP -- which consists of four songs that didn't quite fit onto the album, plus a further simplified version of "Talking Bird," the fifth track on Narrow Stairs.

Despite these songs being deemed unfitting for the somewhat bland Narrow Stairs release, they're not much more entertaining. The melodies are extremely repetitive; I actually had to turn off "I Once Was A Loyal Lover" because I couldn't listen to Ben Gibbard's cyclical vocals anymore. Also, the drumming in "A Diamond and A Tether" gets to be rather annoying by the end of the track.

But once you weed through the first two disappointing tracks, there is a small bit of musical variation to be found on this EP. "My Mirror Speaks" is unquestionably the most diverse out of all the songs. The vocals are not monotonous and neither are the instrumentals -- this is a breath of fresh air in the middle of an otherwise mediocre release.

Open Door isn't good, by any means, but it isn't terrible either. Lyrically, it's still clever, a consistency for Death Cab. Gibbard still delivers in his own poetic style for each song, although most tracks leave more to be desired musically. In the opening track, "Little Bribes," Gibbard sings, "Pretend every slot machine is a robot amputee waving hello/The people stare into their eyes/And feed them little bribes and then they go."

So, yes, the lyrics are still good and hold to many of Death Cab's common (sometimes gloomy) themes. Not surprisingly, the general premise of the EP is confusion, loneliness, disloyalty and feeling unable to commit. Loyal fans love nothing more than Ben Gibbard's smart and soul searching lyrics, but with his recent engagement to She & Him half Zooey Deschanel, one would think that maybe songs with such titles as "I Once Was A Loyal Lover" wouldn't make their way onto an album for a while. Hopefully his most recent lyrics aren't an indicator of his feelings for Deschanel. If they are, my advice would be to get out now!

Everything else aside, the die hard Death Cab fans will be somewhat satisfied with this EP as something to hold them over until the next album, while first-time listeners might want to start with some earlier releases before they fully judge the band. A long-time listener myself, I am still holding out hope Death Cab for Cutie will steer away from the road to mediocrity they have been recently choosing to go down, and put out an album that I want to put on repeat -- because I've been a little let down.