Obviously I wouldn't pick Death Cab if I was in a "rip **** up" kind of mood, but I wouldn't say you have to be sleepy to enjoy them. Not even close.

As far as what you should hear, IMO Transatlanticism is their best album (or at least the one I keep coming back to). Plans is plenty good as well. I wouldn't start with Narrow Stairs, as I think it's a good album but it really took awhile for me to appreciate it. Same with their earlier albums.

thank you :]

Instead, I'll recommend my favorite albums since I'm not sure what songs you have and have not heard.

Give Transatlanticism a try as it is, in my opinion, their best studio album. Something About Airplanes is a close second followed closely by Plans. You'll find some more up-beat tracks on Plans as well as their latest effort, Narrow Stairs.

You probably just need the right state of mind. You cannot actually listen to them if you want to go crazy and go party. They have a more lounge beat.

I really did not like them the first time I heard them, but they've such good lyrics.

Yeah, Death Cab's lyrics are awesome. I'm really enjoying The Open Door EP.

eh, the open door EP just didnt really appeal to me, i feel like they are slowly going downhill. Narrow Stairs was pretty good but not at all one of their best efforts

I went to besteveralbums .com and they listed Transatlanticism as their best and Plans 2nd. They were both around #300 all time, and then they had Narrow Stairs at like #3000. Was Narrow Stairs really that much worse than their others, I mean, I thought every song was good. btw, I don't put a lot of stake in music critics, but I think that's the site where they're taking an average of like, all the other reviews.

i completely agree. its a great album from start to finish. the
songs are really great, especially the title track. that one is
amazing. :p:

Passenger Seat was the song that hit me the hardest, I put it on repeat and listened to it about 100 times in the 3 days after I bought the album. Tiny Vessels and Transatlanticism probably are my next two favorites.

Mmmm I love this song, Transatlanticism is definitely my favourite album.

They're kind of one of those bands that the more you listen, the more you like.

A-greed. their earlier stuff is harder to get into but some of it is brilliant.

Definatley a band that gets better over time, couldn't stand them a few months ago, but now I realize Plans and Transatlanticism are great albums.

Passenger Seat still kicks me right in the heart and gut... great song. I heard it the first time after waving my then girlfriend (now wife) goodbye and letting her on a plane back to the US (I lived in Australia at the time). It reminds me of the drives we took around South Australia, the promises we made to be together...

.... ahhhh memories of hard times so bittersweet...

^^^ Definitely brings back memories of some night-time drives here as well.

I think as far as a kick-you-in-the-gut song, though, you'd be hard to top What Sarah Said.

Incredible band. In-FREAKING-credible.

Favorite song [by far]: Transatlanticism. Sure it's seven minutes long, but that's a few more minutes of absolute heaven and other worldly-ness that most other songs don't even have time for. The twats! I should shove them into an oven and set it on HIGH.

...Am I rambling again? My, I feel like a wrinkly old man. [in other words: I feel like Rosie O'Donnell]

Yes, yes I went there.

i agree death cab is great. i need to get more into their stuff, but i really like:

passenger seat
transatlanticism
marching band of manhattan
summer skin
a lack of color
talking bird
bixby canyon bridge
the ice is getting thinner
different names for the same thing
stable song
brothers on a hotel bed

Some great Death Cab song choices there! Quite a few of my faves of theirs in that there list! I'd add more from Narrow Stairs but I really have to familiarise myselfs eith the music and the themes in the lyrics... but I am sure its going to yeild a few more favorites over time...

haha thank you. and yeah narrow stairs is a good record

i truly am lookihng forward to getting to know Narrow Stairs better... from the outside looking in it feels like a rich album.... possibly as good as Transatlanticism to these ears.....

yea. gibbard is a very very good lyricist and i am in awe as to what he can do. i still need to get more into narrow stairs too though.

Narrow Stairs is good, but not Transatlanticism good. Just didn't have the depth and the power of Trans, but in all fairness, those are some tough shoes to fill.

honestly, i really cant choose. narrow stairs doesnt have the acoustic guitar/piano songs like transatlanticism (excluding the ice is getting thinnner). the records just differ.

I love them. And I agree his voice is great, both Death Cab and Postal Service. But the actual version of "I will possess your heart" was like a million minutes long. The music was pretty low key the whole time too, dynamics in the solo in the beginning would have made it a ton better.

I dunno I really dig the slow building instrumental part of I will possess your heart... its one of the most appealing parts of the new album, in my humble little opinion... I don't think the song meanders or gets lost at all.

It was a very very slow crescendo into the song, I love the song, just not the never-ending intro.

Mm, loves me some Death Cab. :> I first heard Give Up and enjoyed it thoroughly. After some googling, I figured out that Ben Gibbard is also the lead singer of Death Cab for Cutie. I bought Plans, listened to it many times, and adored it. Since then, I've downloaded most of their albums. Something About Airplanes, We Have the Facts, and The Photo Album are my personal faves. Narrow Stairs definitely isn't as good. Transatlanticism is the only one of their albums I don't have in my library. [lemme fix that right now...]
Also, Death Cab isn't an "emo" band. My Chemical Romance and Tokio Hotel are.

You should most definitely fix that right now:hphones:

I never thought of Death Cab as indie rock. But they are a hell of a band. Gibbard has a sense for music and hook that is hard to come by.

Also, My Chemical Romance isn't emo x3 But let's not let this glorious thread devolve into a discussion about the semantics of the emo genre.

Death CAB!
 

you didnt see indie and you don't see MCR as emo? what?

Death Cab For Cutie was one of the first really successful (meaning they went beyond just a more indie and cult following and broke into mainstream popularity) "indie" bands and really helped bring the "genre" into the light that is in today (of course the sound really started forming by 80's bands like the Smiths and Dinosaur Jr.) just remember that DCFC is NOT an indie band. they are on Atlantic and have been since plans.

I think that even though they aren't "indie" by label status, they still carry with them the independent spirit of their indie roots, which isw a darn good attitude to carry in to the world of music.

lol

I'd rather think of both bands emocoreindiecorefusioncore...

I love over categorization...

I don't really consider them "indie", but that doesn't really matter. They are a pretty good band, my favorite album of theirs is The Photo Album, and my favorite song is Styrofoam Plates.

Styrofoam plates is a pretty darn good track, I gotta agree with you there... some really great angry lyrics and a good building intensity in the music all through the track.... quite gritty stuff!

Styrofoam Plates is a really good song, yeah. One of my favorites from The Photo Album as well. When I first heard it, I was taken aback by the depth in some of the lines.

We Have The Facts And We'e Voting Yes is very good.What album to get next?

Transatlanticism IMO. Although if you really liked We Have The Facts... you should also check out their debut, Something About Airplanes. I'd get both though.