LP Record review:
Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album

Death Cab for Cutie - The Photo Album

Band: Death Cab for Cutie Title: The Photo Album Rating: Release Date: 02 October, 2001 Media: LP Record Tracks: 1: Steadier Footing 2: Movie Script Ending 3: We Laugh Indoors 4: Information Travels Faster 5: Why You'd Want to Live Here 6: Blacking Out the Friction 7: I Was a Kaleidoscope 8: Styrofoam Plates 9: Coney Island 10: Debate Exposes Doubt

Editoral Review The Northwest act's songs soar high like Built to Spill's or Beulah's, and almost every track on The Photo Album is as musically bouncy and upbeat as the best of those bands. Death Cab for Cutie turn difficult personal issues into literary rock songs while straddling the narrow line between blissful pop and driving indie rock. As catchy as the songs on The Photo Album may be, though, it's really front man Benjamin Gibbard's comfort with laying his emotional issues bare that makes this an excellent album. "Styrofoam Plates" is the most stunning track, with words that leave chills long after they've disappeared. As Gibbard sings about anger for a dead father ("It's not quite a stretch to say you were not quite a father / But a donor of seeds to a poor single mother / That would raise us alone / We never saw the money / It went down your throat down the hole in your belly"), his stark honesty makes this dysfunctional family story the most compelling piece of this album. The other issues of clumsy relationships pale a little in comparison, but The Photo Album still leaves little doubt that Death Cab deserve all the indie rock accolades they have received. --Jennifer Maerz .. You can see a complete list of all Death Cab for Cutie discography, or go back to the Death Cab for Cutie tabs