Review: Death Cab for Cutie – Thank You for Today

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Death Cab’s ninth studio album Thank You for Today is more of exactly what you’d expect from the seasoned indie rockers.

Ben Gibbard has been peddling sincerity and mild rock for over two decades now. That might not feel like a long time relative to well-established rock bands that fill stadiums, but think of how different indie rock was in 1998. Death Cab for Cutie have weathered the great garage rock revival of the early 2000s, the newer, “artier” wave of the late 2000s bands, and the recent trend of rock bands to drift towards synthpop.

Through it all, Death Cab for Cutie have remained incredibly consistent. Their 1998 debut Something About Airplanes doesn’t sound all that much different from the Death Cab for Cutie of the 2010s. You can’t describe their albums as “the ambient one” or “the dancey one” or “the rock opera,” maybe only “the sad one” and “the sadder one.” Their biggest change was when longtime guitarist Chris Walla left the band in 2014 to go solo. They’ve never done gimmicks, and only rarely go beyond the core rock instruments of drum, bass, guitar, and occasional keyboard. Just like Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie are a great example of straight-up, no-frills “indie rock.”

It should therefore come as no surprise that Death Cab’s ninth studio album Thank You for Today is more of exactly what you’d expect from the seasoned indie rockers. For their first album without Walla, but with new members Dave Depper on guitar and Zac Rae on the keyboard, it’s a remarkably seamless transition from 2015’s Kintsugi. There are just enough subtle differences on the album for the band to escape accusations that they’re devoid of new ideas, but by and large, Thank You for Today will just scratch your Death Cab itch for the next few years.

The primary distinguishing features of Thank You for Today are its high-quality production and greater inclusion of electronic instrumentation, likely a result of having a full-time keyboardist. The album’s opener “I Dreamt We Spoke Again” features drummer Jason McGerr doing his best imitation of a drum machine, while gentle synthesizer notes and muted vocal effects make it the closest Death Cab have edged to Gibbard’s legendary Postal Service side project. “You Moved Away” uses the keyboard in a less direct manner, helping create the track’s dismal atmosphere. On the flipside,  “When We Drive” has the ambient synthesizer of an 80s soft rock song, and might be the most innocuous Death Cab song released to date, which is really saying something.

These new and shiny synthesizer effects aside, much of Thank You For Today could have come from any Death Cab for Cutie album of the last decade. If you don’t remember much of prior releases Codes and Keys or Kintsugi, you’re not alone. However, Death Cab has always had a penchant for picking strong singles; “You Are a Tourist” and “The Ghosts of Beverly Drive” for instance, stick out as strong tracks from less memorable albums. Thank You For Today’s lead single “Gold Rush” unfortunately is one of its weaker tracks. Here, Gibbard laments the gentrification of his beloved home Seattle over a looped sample of Yoko Ono’s “Mindtrain” and the track’s title repeated ad nauseum in backing vocals. The third single “Autumn Love,” seems a better pick for a standout. Even if it is a little “Death Cab by numbers,” it at least has a clear chorus, unlike “Gold Rush.”

There’s a general consensus that Death Cab for Cutie’s best albums came in the early/mid-2000s (Transatlanticism, Plans), largely thanks to the emotional intensity that came from Gibbard’s lyricism. Thank You for Today comes up a little short here, and the same band that once declared “love is watching someone die” now has lines like “you used to be such a delicate kid/a lonely fish in a sea full of squid” on “Your Hurricane.” This is a cherry-picked example, but there’s little profundity to be found on the album. For instance, the chorus of “Near/Far” is “you’re here, so far away, so near, so far,” and even the singalong refrain of “Autumn Love” is just “this autumn love is not enough.” Thankfully, the closing track “60 & Punk” offers some redemption, as Gibbard ruminates on someone past his prime, a “superhero growing bored, with no one to save anymore.” While the subject is someone Gibbard used to admire until descending into alcoholism, many will wonder if lines like “do you see that kid you used to be?” and “were you happier when you were poor?” are at least partially self-referential.

Death Cab for Cutie’s steadfastness can be seen as both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, the band has outlived countless other indie acts, received repeated critical acclaim, and remained one of the most recognizable rock acts out there. On the other hand, the band seems hard-pressed for new ideas, and you can hear echoes of their past work throughout Thank You for Today. “Summer Years,” one of the better tracks, has a drumbeat not too dissimilar from “We Laugh Indoors,” and even the lead guitar riff of “Autumn Love” vaguely echoes “You Are a Tourist.” A gentle step towards synth-rock does help differentiate the album from predecessors, and the songwriting is generally up to snuff, but in general Thank You for Today will meet, not exceed, expectations. Despite their lofty presence and the long climb to get there, it may feel like Death Cab have recently reached a plateau.

Rating: 6/10

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