Death Cab For Cutie’s lead singer and songwriter Ben Gibbard has been such a fixture in the Indie Rock scene for so long now that it’s easy to forget in 2005 Death Cab was just beginning to reach their star power. Following 2003’s excellent Transatlanticism that was released independently and saw the band achieve cult-like status, a bidding war ensued amongst the major labels for Death Cab’s services, with Atlantic Records eventually winning out and placing the band at the forefront of Indie Rock’s burgeoning commercial appeal.
Plans was the result, a great end-to-end record that highlights all of the things that make Death Cab For Cutie great– Gibbard’s unique vocal melodies, the band’s textural layers that build and add upon one another, and the eclecticism of their output while staying true to the gravitation center of the classic vocals/guitar/bass/keys/drums setup that has defined Indie Rock for ages. Come for “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” but stay for the B Side of this album where things really begin to take shape.
Standout Songs: “Marching Bands of Manhattan”, “Summer Skin”, “Your Heart Is an Empty Room”, “What Sarah Said”, “Brothers on a Hotel Bed”
