Reviews of albums by Death Cab For Cutie and My Morning Jacket.
Reviews of albums by Death Cab For Cutie and My Morning Jacket.
My Morning Jacket – It Still Moves ***
RCA
I could lie and say I like Z so much I had to get this record but the truth is I bought them at the same time. Again MMJ balances their love for blues, darker-synth sounds and 70’s British rock, (much of which was blues based anyways.) This time around they get a little bit more Thorogood on it’s ass by adding a little sax and sprinkling other various brass parts here and there. Also they get are definitely more Dixie, the twanged-up “Golden” and “Masterplan” are evidence of this. They lose the planetary meanderings and also some popiness, but it’s still packed with great songs like the progressive “One Big Holiday” and the dreamy “I Will Sing You Songs.” All in all a worthy predecessor to Z, and contains probably one of their best songs “Steam Engine.”
Death Cab For Cutie – Plans ***1/2
Atlantic/Wea
Indie-rock’s most revered band records a somewhat successful major label (Atlantic) debut album. As I listened to this, a realization dawned upon me, that voice, Death Cab’s singer Ben Gibbard’s voice; his is the actual sound of heartbreak. The aural embodiment of yearning. I don’t know why I didn’t figure this out before, I have two other Death Cab records, their two best, 2000’s We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes and 2003’s absolutely fucking perfect Transatlaticism. I guess it was just somewhere below the surface, something maybe I accepted without realizing what it was. Not too much is different, Gibbard’s lyrics are still sharp and incredibly brilliant, but the highs on this one just aren’t as high as before. Death Cab is possibly the second best band that has come out of Seattle and has caused some to ponder “Is this the REM of our generation?”
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