Death Cab For Cutie- Codes and Keys

In order to gain personal growth there becomes a point in every band/artists career when the same old - same old just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. This happens to be the case for Seattle Indie – Rockers Death Cab for Cutie on their seventh studio release Codes and Keys. This time around Death Cab abandons their signature crisp guitar driven sound, for something that is a bit more mature and less guitar driven.

Guitarist and Producer Chris Walla’s production style for the album has more technological leniencies finding inspiration by LCD Soundsystem, New Order along with the David Bowie Brian Eno collaboration on the infamous Berlin Trilogy. Creating a more raw distant and detached feeling that was recorded in eight different studios in two weeks periods. Lyrically the album differentiates from previous Death Cab releases in that they drift away from the personal anthems for the lonely broken hearted college student, as they spread out into a wider audience which isn’t necessarily a bad thing considering Death Cab is one of those bands that has the ability to generate mass appeal.

Codes and Keys offers a sound that is different from the previous entries in their catalog that requires a keen sense to picking up on details. The soft steps of beats whispering through a sparse field of melodies, to the layers of busy instrumentation that interchange between complex arrangements. While a majority of the songs on Codes and Keys run under five minutes with the exception of Doors unlocked and Open and Unobstructed Views, fans looking for something that is highly engaging will be left empty handed due to the swaths of sounds that come crashing in rippling waves.

While Death Cab still sounds like Death Cab, they’ve departed from the pop sound they’ve been riding since they broke out into the mainstream with 2003’s Transatlanticism. The feelings of isolation clearly come out not only lyrically but musically as well. You’re A Tourist, delivers this isolation in its purest form while musically sounding similar to David Bowie’s Heroes, and chilling lyrics “When There’s a burning in your heart and you think it’ll burst apart oh, there’s nothing to fear save the tears.” What Death cab has done over the past decade is astonishing in that they changed the way indie music sounds but also they’ve done something that most bands dream of doing and that is breaking into the mainstream without losing their loyal fan base. While Codes and Keys moves away from what got them to where they are today, it shows that this is still a band that is even closer to making the one album that will further define who they are.