DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE - Plans

What's the difference between Death Cab For Cutie and Coldplay? Why is one an icon of the indie movement while the other fills stadiums? Obviously I'm not speaking strictly in stylistic terms — there are plenty of differences there — but I struggle to answer the question if I limit myself to thinking about the listenability of the sounds and melodies, the quality of the arrangements, the simplicity and clarity of the harmonic choices, and the attention to detail (ok, let's leave marketing out of it).

Ben Gibbard's quartet has reached their fifth album following last year's masterpiece "Transatlanticism", and have built up a fanbase of aficionados that keeps growing and will surely swell further after their move to Atlantic. "Plans" repeats the tried-and-tested formula the band has settled into over the years, pairing simple, always polished melodies with indie-pop soundscapes made of gentle guitar filigree (increasingly scarce), pastel-colored keyboards (increasingly abundant), round drums, and full, comfortable sounds only marginally undermined by faint intrusions of disruptive noise.

The result, as usual, is a highly enjoyable record, containing at least three excellent tracks ("Summer Skin", "Different Names For The Same Thing", "What Sarah Said") and other good songs (the single "Soul Meets Body", "Brothers On An Hotel Bed", the opener "Marching Bands Of Manhattan"), but which overall seems to show early signs of fatigue and comes across as less incisive than its predecessor, partly due to an overly polished sound and a heavily lacquered production that completely eliminates the rough edges that were perhaps "Transatlanticism"'s winning trait.

Even the closing remake of the already-released "Stable Song", which in its earlier version (a bonus track on "The Photo Album") was rawer and featured a several-minutes-long instrumental coda that delivered far deeper emotion, leaves a somewhat bittersweet aftertaste.

Let's be clear, it's not a disappointment; still, a solid record, though one that remains suspended in a limbo of vague incompleteness. "Plans" is what others would call "a transitional work". Then again, if only there were more transitional works of this calibre…

Ride the wave of great music

Add OndaRock to your favorite sources on Google Discover. Don't miss our reviews, milestones and latest news straight in your feed.

Follow on Google

30/04/2026