DCFC are one of those bands I got massively into for a relatively short time and have never gone back to since. Loved the Postal Service album at the time but I donāt think it has aged well. Given both iterations a 3, but it would have been higher at one time.
I was reading Richard Hoggartās classic The Uses of Literacy recently which has a great story in the forward about DCFCās name. The book is (in part) a slightly snooty lament about the influence of trashy āpulpā fiction. He originally named some examples of what he was talking about but his publisher was worried about being sued so told him to make up some fictional examples, one of which was āDeath Cab for Cutieā. The Bonzo Dog Doodah Band then stole the tile for a song (thinking it was a real pulp story, I think) and the band later named themselves after the song. In the forward Hoggartās son explains how they were, fifty years later, his own sonās favourite band and he was able to tell him that his grandfather had actually come up with their name.
2 and 5 respectively. Give Up is one of those records that instantly transports me to a specific time/place and I love it. Donāt really think I could ever review it critically tbh.
Strange, I was thinking the other day as to whether DCFC would be in one of these
I find it hard to be objective as they were my first girlfriendās, who was the first girl I loved, favourite band. She had lyrics tattooed on her wrist and I went with her to go see them (they were really dull).
I always found the music quite on the nose and inauthentic. A song like I Will Follow You Into The Dark makes me cringe but I wonder if I listened now how Iād feel. Remember liking the songs Transantlanticism and Kath at the time
Donāt really know Death Cab although must have heard them at some point or other.
I think the Postal Service album is a tad overrated, but itās alright and I quite like hearing the occasional song on 6 music. Abstain and a 3 I reckon.
Title and Registration is still one of my favourite sets of lyrics ever, The New Year is about as perfect an album opener as you can imagine, and I was obsessed with Transatlantiscism as a whole as a teenager. Could still easily number among my favourite albums now tbh
Yes they can be too twee or clever-clever, but thereās such heart and sincerity behind what they do. Feels like everything is in service of that, even if I can see how potentially off putting it can be to non fans
Plans is great for a major label debut, punched up and smothered over some of their sounds without making them anonymous or generic. Feels to me like one of the last times that it really āmatteredā when a small band went big, and people actually thought about whether that meant selling out etc. Nope, just meant they wrote Summer Skin which is peerlessly beautiful - I had a routine where Iād listen to The New Year every ā¦ new year, Summer Skin in the hottest part of every summer holiday, and So Long to the Holidays by Modest Mouse on the last day before going back to school. Those songs are just soaked in nostalgia
Think I never checked out the last two albums, but even up to Keys and Codes (?) there was some really good stuff in there
Big band for me when I was at uni having feelings.
Saw them 2 years ago and they actually still sounded pretty great.
Always thought postal service was a bit overrated (especially by people desperate to prove that they liked āelectronic musicā!), but a couple of undeniable bangers.
Got to be a 5.
Also The Postal Service album is good and Iām going to enjoy sticking it on today, but very surprised that thereās so many people here who really rate it while not being interested in Death Cab at all. Itās a fine album but wouldnāt be in their top 3 imho, but they also cover such similar emotional and melodic ground that it genuinely surprises me someone could love one but not the other ā¦
Also from Trans onwards, they have some truly great drums parts in their songs, and especially on Narrow Stairs. Plus theyāve always had a chunky bass tone, which worked well to balance all the other sweetness in their tracks
Just remembered that the intro build up in āI will possess your heartā is great. Thought that was very cool when I first heard it after I thought they āsold outā with plans (what a dickhead).
Narrow Stairs has a few garbage tracks on it, but the good stuff is great. Bixby Canyon Rope Bridge, No Sunlight, Grapevine Fires, Your New Twin Sized Bed etc
Death Cab, easiest 5 in this whole shebang. DCFC are probably my most-listened-to band. I donāt really have a āfavourite bandā but if youāre talking about bands whose discographies you would keep over everyone elseās, itās between them and Coheed for me but you canāt really put on Coheed on a Sunday afternoon when youāre winding down from a hangover.
For me, DCFC donāt start until Jason McGerr joins the band. Between the less refined musicianship and Benās voice, I just never connected with anything before Transatlanticism but I love everything from and including that (yes, including Codes & Keys and that underwhelming last one with the stupid squid song).
Harmer and McGerr have to be the most underrated rhythm section in rock; what they do is pivotal to the bandās sound (to the point that nothing pre-Transatlanticism āsounds like DCFCā to my ears) but itās often simple to the point of deceptive complexity. Every beat, every note is in service to the song. Absolute perfection.
Plans is my most-listened to album but Narrow Stairs is the ābestā imo; itās also the first album that came out after I got into them on the Plans cycle, so it has that special status of being the first album I was able to get excited about and look forward to.
Real concerns theyāll turn into a pale imitation of former glories with Chris Walla gone, especially when you compare that last Foxing record to the last Death Cab one. But weāll always have that run from Transatlanticism to Kintsugi which is a run of five near-flawless albums, when most bands donāt manage five albums that good in their entire career.
The Postal Service are a tough one. Give Up was an easy 5/5 album, but it has arguably not aged that well and the non-album tracks that surface from time to time hint at the fact that its follow up would probably have been a letdown.
Plus (and this isnāt entirely their fault), the gig at Brixton in 2013 was one of the most anticlimactic things Iāve experienced. The main problem was the crowd, followed by the venue, but ultimately it proved that theyāre not really a ābandā and thatās fine, but Give Up is probably best seen as a 2003 curio, perfectly executed but very much of its time and not to be repeated. Also: fucking Owl City man. Owl City.