Death Cab For Cutie – The Open Door EP

The Open Door EP is not a new EP from Death Cab For Cutie. Instead it’s just a sixteen minute EP featuring some b-sides from the Narrow Stairs recording session that didn’t make the cut for the album. It’s a simple EP that was released without much fan fare to give their fans a little something to hold them over until their next release and enable them to play the songs live.

But ignoring all the external factors of what the EP is, where the songs came from and why it’s being released, there is one thing that is abundantly clear: The Open Door is good. Like damn good. Like way better than 99% of the stuff from Narrow Stairs. The first four songs would have stuck out like a sore thumb on Narrow Stairs but work together here really well. The sole song that would have fit into Narrow Stairs‘ structure is the closing demo of Little Bird; but that song is bland and boring and the weakest cut on the album.

Other than the aforementioned downer, The Open Door is actually rather energetic; well as energetic as Death Cab for Cutie can be. The songs have strong rhythm to it, sometimes thundering drum kicks paired with claps while other times it’s just the blues-fueled riffs that Chris Walla and Ben Gibbard so effortless put down that give the songs life. The tracks are slightly rougher than the band’s previous output, more abrasive, distorted and in your face instead of the airy indie-rock that they’ve popularized; all of which gives the EP a stronge identity and uniqueness.

The highlight of The Open Door (other than the more energetic tempo of the album) is the combination of Gibbard’s vocals and lyrics. Gibbard doesn’t change his delivery in anyway but fits his vocals into the tempo of the song. There is a sense of urgency, paranoia, confusion and self doubt embeded in his tones and accented by the lovelorn lyrics that tell the tale of a man examining his relationships and ideals of love. The lyrics carry a pop sensibility to them through a simplistic nature yet remain deceptively clever and in depth which helps paint a picture that can be widely interpreted. Gibbard seems to have been able to deliver some of the best lyrics he’s ever been able to write.

The songs are different but definitely Death Cab For Cutie and remain some of the strongest songs I’ve heard by them in a long time. If they take their next album anywhere close to this direction then it will surely be mind blowing.