Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Codes and Keys

Death Cab for Cutie's latest release is defined by awakenings in sound and trajectory. It is almost unrecognizable when compared to the earlier work of a band that spoke to a decade of teenage angst and general malaise. The succumbing to the elements inherent in 2005's Plans has been replaced by a mature outlook, likely influenced by frontman Ben Gibbard's sobriety and marriage. Calling it emo would be false categorization.

Lead single "You Are a Tourist" is the genuine article as pop singles go. It is a fluid arrangement, piercing the listener's subconscious and extracting beautiful, abstract truths. The track builds effortlessly from its predecessor, the catchy, colossal wall of drifting sound of "Doors Unlocked and Open."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gibbard and company's penchant for soaring melody is on full display for the first half of the record, before the hanging coma of "Unobstructed Views," and from thereon spirals down to Earth with a gentle shift in tonality. DCFC has always been a band capable of crafting pristine, floating-in-space soundscapes, and while Codes and Keys is a departure on many fronts, it is no exception to their rule.

  • Album: Codes and Keys (2011)
  • Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
  • Label: Atlantic Records
  • Songs: (1) Home Is a Fire (2) Codes and Keys (3) Some Boys (4) Doors Unlocked and Open (5) You Are a Tourist (6) Unobstructed Views (7) Monday Morning (8) Portable Television (9) Underneath the Sycamore (10) St. Peter's Cathedral (11) Stay Young, Go Dancing

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

SD Symphony singer tells what it’s like behind the scenes

Conductor Payare even looks like Mahler
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas

Death Cab for Cutie's latest release is defined by awakenings in sound and trajectory. It is almost unrecognizable when compared to the earlier work of a band that spoke to a decade of teenage angst and general malaise. The succumbing to the elements inherent in 2005's Plans has been replaced by a mature outlook, likely influenced by frontman Ben Gibbard's sobriety and marriage. Calling it emo would be false categorization.

Lead single "You Are a Tourist" is the genuine article as pop singles go. It is a fluid arrangement, piercing the listener's subconscious and extracting beautiful, abstract truths. The track builds effortlessly from its predecessor, the catchy, colossal wall of drifting sound of "Doors Unlocked and Open."

Sponsored
Sponsored

Gibbard and company's penchant for soaring melody is on full display for the first half of the record, before the hanging coma of "Unobstructed Views," and from thereon spirals down to Earth with a gentle shift in tonality. DCFC has always been a band capable of crafting pristine, floating-in-space soundscapes, and while Codes and Keys is a departure on many fronts, it is no exception to their rule.

  • Album: Codes and Keys (2011)
  • Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
  • Label: Atlantic Records
  • Songs: (1) Home Is a Fire (2) Codes and Keys (3) Some Boys (4) Doors Unlocked and Open (5) You Are a Tourist (6) Unobstructed Views (7) Monday Morning (8) Portable Television (9) Underneath the Sycamore (10) St. Peter's Cathedral (11) Stay Young, Go Dancing
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

National City to junk permissive land-use code

Airbnb regs would be like Chula Vista's
Next Article

How Much Time Do I Get With My BetterHelp Therapist?

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader