Ben Gibbard is an over-anxious neurotic. He was made for the over-stimulated anxiety-stricken youth of today, and Death Cab for Cutie have gone out of their way to make rock especially beautiful. Gibbard sets overly thought-out lyrics into gorgeous arching melodies. Everything seems to pull you toward comfort and envelope you in it.
The problem with this desire for an intense sentimentality is a little apparent in the production of the first songs on Plans. The vocals are very sweet and melodious, even when surrounded by loud guitars and drums. You wish they would take risks once in a while, but then "Different Names For The Same Thing" kicks in, sounding like it was recorded on a broken tape machine. The subtle echo on Gibbard's vocals has a mesmerizing effect. This is the problem with Death Cab for Cutie's overall aim. The package is meant for popular culture, which usually has a problem understanding subtlety. So even while they do not deserve to be snubbed just because they are Seth Cohen's favorite band, there is something lacking that only a fine taste could ask for.
The main theme of this record is Gibbard's fascination with death and the metaphysical. Gibbard declares boldly, "Love is watching someone die, so who's gonna watch me die?" at the end of "What Sarah Said", which he follows up with, "If there's no one beside you when your soul departs, then I'll follow you into the dark." It seems like Gibbard's anxiety is centered on this theme. Gibbard has a knack for making lines so cerebral that his very clumsiness makes them appealing.
The bottom line is that the melodies are more than interesting. The music is first rate. The instrumentation is rich, the drumming is very original and the bass lines always contribute something unique. The bass line to "Summer Skin" is as complicated as it gets in pop music; it is all over the place in the most flattering way possible. It would have been very easy for Death Cab for Cutie to rest on their growing popularity and "sell out" in the indie cooler-than-thou world. There is no evidence that the band did this at all. Death Cab for Cutie might be picking up where Coldplay left off as the melancholic college kid rock kings and taking over as the primary source for songs with melody on modern radio, but this group will be actually be remembered for their music, which is something that cannot be said about most bands mentioned in TV shows.
