Death Cab For Cutie – “Plans”

Ah, the ever-popular major-label debut. Will Death Cab For Cutie be “sellouts” or will they remain indie-rock darlings? Well, it could go either way with this release. Plans isn’t really that much different from Photo Album. Their final album on Barsuk, Transatlanticism, at least showed some signs of Ben Gibbard’s Postal Service collaboration with Jimmy Tamborello. Plans is a little more polished, but the band stuck with longtime producer Chris Walla, and it resulted in just your typical Death Cab For Cutie album.

“Soul Meets Body” is an excellent first single, and does a fine job of showcasing Gibbard’s low crooning and high pitched vocals in the same song. Other than that, “Crooked Teeth” and its jangle pop verses and bass breakdown chorus is the only song on the album that deviates from the softly spoken / sang vocals and piano-backed tunes that dominate the album.

I enjoyed Plans, but it’s not exactly something that would’ve broken them into the mainstream had it been the album that was playing when the O.C. came calling. It’s pretty… there, for lack of a better term. Nothing big, nothing small… just a pretty regular record.

Soul Meets Body (courtesy Welcome to the Midwest)