Transatlanticism
“You should really listen to some Death Cab for Cutie, Matthew.” I think my initial reaction to this advice was “What was that band name again?” Death Cab for Cutie is apparantly a name of a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, but is also used as the name of an indie rock band recently signed to Atlantic Records. I wasn’t encouraged by their name, it has to be said. Still, I decided to take the advice, and rented a couple of their albums from the library.
Transatlanticism is quite hard to describe. It’s also an excellent album, lyrically and musically. Maybe you’ve had the same experience I’ve had – listening to a song and not having the first idea what they’re going on about. “Title and Registration” was one such song for me:
The glove compartment is inaccurately named
And everybody knows it
So I’m proposing a swift orderly change,
‘Cause behind its door there’s nothing to keep my fingers warm
And all I find are souvenirs from better times
It confused me at first. This was a song about regret:
There’s no blame for how our love did slowly fade
And now that it’s gone it’s like it wasn’t there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night
What did the glove compartment have to do with anything? Then I realised exactly what it was on about, realised that I could empathise completely with the sentiments and it was, in fact, incredibly clever. It’s quite a nice feeling that, so I’ll leave you to figure it out yourselves, if you haven’t got it already.
So, lyrically I could understand the sentiments (for once) – and musically it was fantastic as well. I have a particular penchant for glockenspiel solos, so perhaps I’m biased. The instrumentation, riffs, hooks and tunes all combine to leave the songs on my brain for hours and days after listening to them – and for once, I don’t mind having them stuck there.
If you watch the O.C., apparently songs from this album have featured on the soundtrack. Having never seen it myself, this was my first experience of Death Cab for Cutie, and it’s left me wanting to find more.
Currently listening to Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles
Matthew @ 11:10, November 6, 2005 to Reviews | Comments (3)
Comments:
sparticus
Sound of Settling is one of my most played songs ever! I love it with all my heart for it’s up tempo beat yet down(ish) tempo lyrics. You should listen to “plans” as it’s stunningly beautiful in every single way.
Comment added at 10:59, November 7, 2005
Matthew
Mm, Sound of Settling is going that way with me, as is A Lack of Color and Title and Registration. Plans has made its way to my to-buy list.
Comment added at 11:07, November 7, 2005
Salmon of Doubt
A friend of mine swears that song is stalking her. She first heard it a few days ago on the Tube (when I ‘made her listen’ to it), then again ten minutes later when the bloke beside her had it blasting out his earphones. Then when she got out, the busker at the bottom of the escalator was playing it…
I think she’s lucky. She could do much worse. It could’ve been the Happy Happy Joy Joy song, for instance… which implants itself in the brain too. Just not in a good way.
I have to agree about the lyrics. I sat there for a whole minute, thinking, ‘How in nine hells did they come up with that?’ before wondering if I was coming up with interpretations they’d never intended.
Comment added at 21:24, November 9, 2005
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