Reviewing Narrow Stairs

From time to time I'm going to post stuff about shows, movies or albums I like. Today I will talk about the album that has been near the top of my iPod shuffle for awhile now. Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs is their latest record and in my opinion the most diverse and complete to date. The sound of the record is a big departure from Transatlaticism or even 2005's Plans. Up to this point the band has been more into synth as less traditional modes of delivery. Narrow Stairs sees Death Cab start to explore a more "rock" centric sound.

Right from the intro song "Bixby Canyon Bridge" we can tell this is a different approach from the band. "Bixby" is one of my favorite tracks on the record and immediately sets a tone that will be carried throughout the album. Gibbard's voice has never been overpowering but he has knack for letting it filter in between the rest of the band's sound that blends everything together. The distortion from the guitars on this while Gibbard sings about journeying to the grave of Jack Kerouac is an example of the blend I mentioned above.

The second track was the first single and was the song that let die hard fans and new converts alike know this album was a very different Death Cab. "I will Posses your Heart" clocks in at over 8 minutes long and sounds NOTHING like what they had done in the past. I really loved this song when it was out as the single and a few months later it's still a song I will skip to.

Other track's that standout include- Cath, You can do better than me and the song that best fits my relationship status "The Ice is Getting Thinner". If you have gone through a relationship of any real length, and I'm talking year(s) people that went through the inevitable periods of compromise, settling and slow decay then you can relate to that song in a big way. The way the song starts out caught my attention right away

We're not the same, dear, as we used to be The seasons have changed and so have we There was little we could say and even less that we could do To stop the ice from getting thinner under me and you

Not to get too emo (that was so 5 years ago for me) but that sums up what can happen between two people who have been together for awhile pretty well.

The best song on the record for me is "Grapevine Fires" which is just another perfectly haunting love song from a band that has already produced several. Gibbard describes the wildfires in California from two years back and the band's musical arrangement behind his soft yet powerful vocals makes for a fantastic mellow song on an album featuring a more distorted sound.

The only throwaway track is "Talking Bird", usually there is 1 or 2 songs on a Death Cab album that don't do it for me and Narrow Stairs is no exception. However, this was the first CD from them where I really got into the other tracks so pressing skip 1 time isn't that big of a burden for me.



So there you have it some random guy's opinion on Narrow Stairs. I think next post will be over the Chicago trip (with pics!) and then a review of 30 Rock where I list the many reasons why I love that show to death.

Backround

Alright, Since I have tried and failed several times to maintain a blog this time I'm going to get it right. I'm at a time in my life where there should be plenty to write about and hopefully in the future these posts can serve as a record of this chaotic but unique time.


If anyone reads this here is the situation. Around 4 years ago I was just your ordinary college sophomore going after his degree in the manner typical to 19 year old boys. That mean I was not spending enough time in school and way too much time drinking the night away. I've always been prone to bouts of complete laziness and back then those would stretch seemingly for months on end. I was basically just drifting through school and life with no real direction looking for something to invest myself in. It was after my 2nd year in school that things would change pretty dramatically. I was working for the university grounds crew doing landscape work and saving enough $ to pay rent and buy beer on the weekends. Most of the other students working that summer were from South America and since I speak Spanish I was put on a work crew with 2 girls and 2 guys all from either Paraguay or Argentina. Well over the course of the summer one of the Argentine girls and I got close and started dating. We kept it casual for 7-8 months before two of her roommates went crazy and she moved in with me until her lease expired and she could move somewhere else. Or so we thought. By that time we had been dating for just about a year and things were really good for both of us. I had switched majors to Anthropology/Latin American studies and finding something I enjoyed studying had really changed my efforts on the academic front. Astrid and I decided to keep living together and as the summer of 2006 rolled around we were looking forward to getting used to living with each other and basically just being 21 year olds in love.

It was that August when things changed really quick. Astrid's family is middle-upper class in Argentina was paying ALOT of money to send her to school here. Once the peso went to shit and they were paying 3-1 on the dollar it got hard to send 48k pesos every year for school. I still remember one day when her mom called and I was doing my best to follow the conversation. It was one of those times where you could just tell by the tone that something important/ominous was going to happen. Astrid told me her family couldn't afford to send her to school anymore and had bought her a ticket back to Argentina, for good. Suddenly all the tentative far far down the road plans we had made were gone, we were faced with just being split apart over something neither of us could control. We spend a few days being depressed and freaking out about all of this before I kind of jokingly suggested we could just get married. Then that idea kind of gained traction. Let me issue this disclaimer- I was NEVER EVER one of those guys who wanted to get married right away, my life planner had a marriage tentatively penciled in my mid-late 20's range. That said those plans didn't really mean much at the moment and I guess the stubborn part of me wasn't about to let something like money break apart a relationship with a girl I really loved so I called my parents and told them to get ready for the fastest wedding ever planned. We had been together for just 15 months at the time. I knew I wasn't ready and neither was she but we both were in love and willing to take a chance and fail rather than just let whatever we had fade out. So we got married. At 21. Near a courthouse with as many friends and family as we could pull together on short notice.

Our first year together was spent taking college classes and going through immigration process which is exactly as un-romantic as it sounds. Astrid wasn't allowed to work legally during the paper filing process so we were pretty broke and I was busy taking class/working/borrowing money from the family. In alot of ways it was a shitty year but it other ways it was nice. My grades were up to A/B's and I was on track to graduate. We went through alot of the normal turbulence's of a young marriage- we discovered that I'm a bit more laid back, she was more outgoing, I like alternative/indie movies and music whereas she like popcorn flicks and family films (i know right??) but all in all things were ok. That summer we went to Argentina and had the official Catholic sanctioned wedding for her family. I stayed there for 3 months that summer and for another month that winter break. My Spanish got alot better and living in another country was just as exciting and awesome as I had also dreamed it would be but by then strains where apparent. Looking back on it now I can see it wasn't a series of little or big fights it was just two people growing apart. Exactly what I knew might happen when I decided to get married so young anyway. We separated this May but things had been awful for a few months before that. After two months we tried to make it work again but when you have had a really strained relationship its hard to overcome all the scars and bitterness that all the little fights and problems have caused. We were able to find some kind of numb detached middle ground that was tolerable but finally I (and I think she) realized that just getting by wasn't good enough and we could both be happier long term just ending the thing.

To further complicate matters just graduated in May, started my new job with an actual title (Director of Sales) and actual responsibility (which I'm currently neglecting to write this overly long post). The job is near where I grew up but sadly most of the friends I had from those days are at colleges or towns far away. Its like being home and finding nobody lives there anymore, its a strange thing to be single and lonely in a very familiar location.

But that's where I am right now and I think that's a good ending point for one part of this life story and a good spot to start the blog. I doubt anyone will ever read this which is fine, but for any accidental stragglers I promise other posts will be much lighter in nature and a bit shorter as well.