Lineup change:
Ben Gibbard – Vocals, Guitar, Keyboards
Chris Walla – Guitar, Keyboards, Production
Nick Harmer – Bass
Jason McGerr – Drums
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I tend to make a lot of R.E.M. comparisons when talking about Death Cab, but it's just a very easy thing to do. While they aren't very similar musically, they both had very similar career trajectories and it's easy to relate the two. So please forgive me when I say that Transatlanticism, in terms of relation to their earlier albums and their future as a band, is essentially Death Cab's Life's Rich Pageant or Document. In other words, much like R.E.M., they sacrificed a small bit of their unique identity in order to create music that is more immediately approachable, but without losing their core strengths – in Death Cab's case, beautiful vocal melodies and moody instrumental textures and atmosphere.
The result was, surprisingly, almost never labeled a sell out – that would be their follow up – but did become their most commercially successful album to this point and, by far, their most critically acclaimed album to date. It's a rare album that is widely accepted by the general public, the fans, and the critics, and it combines immediate accessibility with a filler free philosophy and great musical ideas in a way that is rarely achieved. Think Rumours if it forgot to take its Prozac.
Additionally, Jason McGerr joined the band at this time, permanently, and I think he deserves some credit for how much more energetic Transatlanticism is than previous Death Cab albums. He doesn't do anything incredibly special, but he's definitely one of the better “just the drummer”s of the 21st century, and he does some nifty little things here and there that I enjoy. Mostly, though, he just seems much more fluid than any of the previous drummers Death Cab employed.
There really are no bad tracks on here. It's one excellent pop-rock song after another, almost all of which are among Death Cab's best. The opening “New Year” immediately tells you this is going to be different from their previous efforts, with crashing power chords and an anthemic chorus that sounds nothing like anything Death Cab had done before. “Title and Registration” is built around a deliberately primitive sounding drum machine, a beautiful acoustic guitar line, and, of course, tons of vocal hooks.
I used to consider “Lightness” filler, but I wouldn't dream of it now. It's very lovely, full of lots of little details that make it quite haunting, including Ben's little “Oh-AHH-ho” vocal things, the swinging rhythm of the drums, and the intimate guitar lines. “Expo '86” and "Death of an Interior Decorator" are more or less cut from the same cloth, but still retain unique melodies and identities. They both have sort of resigned, laid back vocal melodies with a quiet air of desperation surrounding them, and bridges that release all of the tension that was built up, the first by rocking out (by Death Cab standards) and the second with Byrdsian jangly guitar lines.
“Tiny Vessels” is the one track that sounds like it could fit in on any of the previous three albums, with droning, lethargic, but beautiful guitar lines. Only the loud chords in the bridge betray that it doesn't truly belong on those albums, but it still would've been a highlight had it been on them. “We Looked Like Giants” is the most anthemic rocker Death Cab have ever done, following along the lines of “New Year,” and it even features an extended instrumental coda that's well worth listening to. “A Lack of Color” is a very pretty, sad acoustic guitar ballad that closes out the album perfectly, leaving you wishing for more.
In spite of all of this excellent material, my favorite is still the title track. It starts off as a quiet, beautiful, sad ballad, typical Death Cab material. But it features some impressive build up, with the guitar lines becoming louder and more prominent, and the instrumental textures weaving with the desperate “I need you so much closer” repetition builds up so much tension that when the release comes finally, after almost 7 minutes, I find it extremely moving and cathartic. And the following “Passenger Seat” can only really be discussed in the context of the title track, as it essentially functions as a companion piece. On its own, it's not particularly noteworthy, but it serves its purpose very well as a quiet, contemplative breath of fresh air after the harrowing title track. It's the closest thing to filler here, but I couldn't imagine the album without it.
Transatlanticism is the culmination of Death Cab's career. The songs are uniformally excellent, it's fairly diverse for a Death Cab album – certainly much moreso than anything else they've done – and it always leaves me satisfied, but craving more (if that makes any sense at all). You probably noticed I used words like “lovely” and “beautiful” a lot in this review, but there's no other way to explain it. It's simply a collection of very well-played, well-written, and well-produced gorgeous pop-rock tracks, combined with Ben Gibbard's touching vocals and Death Cab's unique brand of melancholy. As I said, there's no filler, and every song except maybe “Passenger Seat,” whose place on the album I already explained, is one of the best pop songs of the 2000's. So how could this hope to be anything but one of the best pop-rock albums of the 2000's? I know I like Death Cab much more than most people, but no matter how skeptical you are, I do believe that Transatlanticism has a place in pretty much everybody's collection. You probably won't like it as much as I do, but I'd be shocked if you didn't like it at all. And who knows? Maybe it will become as important to you as it has to me.
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