In love with this live stream concert!
Kintsugi is so good. It makes me want to die and then be cremated and then have my ashes spread across the coast of California.
So...not surprisingly, Pitchfork gave Death Cab for Cutie’s most recent album a bad review. Who cares? Pitchfork is gross anyways and the people that run it/write for it are fuckboys.
Hold No Guns // DEATH CAB for CUTIE
The first time I listened to Kintsugi and this song started playing I was just like
Source: Spotify
I feel bad for people who haven’t heard Kintsugi.
Jason McGerr’s drum parts are subtly magnificent. You don’t really notice them at first, but the more you listen to Kintsugi, the more you realize how wonderful the drums really are.
me before listening to Death Cab for Cutie’s new album
me after listening to Death Cab for Cutie’s new album
Cider, baked goods, great company, amazing music...well if it isn’t a listening party for Death Cab for Cutie’s new album, Kintsugi!
Sorry it took so long to post this, I had to get my car fixed right after. Alright, so I completed my first listen. I've never listened to an album in a cemetery before, so it was a cool experience. There's also quite a bit of palm trees in this grave yard, so it fit the California vibe some of the songs on the album posses.
I'm not going to talk about every individual track just yet because not everything has been digested, so I'm only going to discuss the major highlights for me.
Note: this may contain spoilers of the album (for those of you who may not have listened to it yet). Anyways, let’s get this started!
After holding off from listening to the first 3 singles, it was so relieving to hear those again. "No Room In Frame" almost made me cry. I really felt "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive" during my first listen too. This single kind of caught me off guard at first but started to grow on me, and it's even better in context; it's amazing and works so well in the flow of the record.
Now because I had heard the first 3 songs, the album really began with "Little Wanderer" for me. So, let's talk about the highlights for the songs I have only heard for the first time a few hours ago. "Hold No Guns" was a true highlight! The melancholy guitar and chord progression, and Ben's sultry voice just all make it such a magnificent note on the album. "Good Help..." has a really great groove to it as well. A lot of the songs on this album are kind of "middle-of-the-road jams" and I really like that about it. I feel like Kintsugi is a perfect album to listen to while on the road during a summer road trip. "Binary Sea" was the perfect album closer! I'm glad they saved the piano song for last. The chord progression is lovely and it's a really well produced song. It closes the album off and left me not knowing how to feel, which I think is a good thing, like the emotion is overwhelming to the point that it makes me speechless. "Hold No Guns" and "Binary Sea" are such lovely summer rain songs too. I can't wait to listen to them while watching the rain fall. Both also made me tear up slightly.
Now, remember when Ben said Codes and Keys was a more balanced record in regards to happy and sad songs? I felt that at first, but now I see that Codes and Keys has a lot of darkness on it, even on the "happy songs." Like why in a sweet song like "Monday Morning" are the vultures surrounding in the chorus? Now, Ben said he thinks Kintsugi feels balanced, and I think I agree with him more here. It's a very bittersweet album. It's also a really different beast than their other records, and mainly in the musical sense. But as for my first listen, I think bittersweet is the best way to sum it up.
Now, here are some things about the album that are negatives to me:
1.) I'm sad that there are no dovetails on this album, no songs that fade into each other - there's no "Tiny Vessels" that expands into "Transatlanticism." This is the first Death Cab album in 14 years (since The Photo Album) to not have dovetails. It's a weird thing to expect from a band but it's become such a staple on Death Cab records, I was just surprised and disappointed to not hear any. In an attempt to justify this, I think the reason why there are none is probably because of the producer change. Dovetails are maybe more Chris Walla's style and not Rich Costey's style. I'm not entirely sure why they’re not on this album, but the producer change seems to be the most logical conclusion.
2.) "Hold No Guns" is a great acoustic note on the album but the following song "Everything's A Ceiling" is really synth-driven and contrasts the previous song so much that it breaks the flow, it doesn't fit. HOWEVER, Ben Folds Five (and Ben Folds in general) is one of my favorite bands/artists, and Ben Folds Five's wonderful album, Whatever And Ever Amen, constantly breaks the flow. There's the super depressing song "Brick" which is juxtaposed by the screams and shouting of "FUCK YOU TOO" in the song that follows it, "Song for the Dumped." That threw me off so much the first few times I listened to it, but the juxtaposition has grown on me and now I enjoy it, it flows in its own strange little way...so maybe that will happen with "Hold No Guns" and "Everything's A Ceiling."
Anyway, it's a great album. I'm avoiding solid opinions for now because I've only heard it once. I'll update you as my opinions begin to solidify. I have a listening party for Kintsugi with some friends in a few hours so I'll post about that as well. Also, I'll open up my submissions soon so you all can share your thoughts too.
Well happy release day, everyone! We did it!
(The photo above was taken by me with a film camera on a different day, but in the same cemetery I listened to Kinstugi in).
- Sam (You-Are-The-Sound-Of-Settling)
About to take my first listen of KINTSUGI in a cemetery!
Death Cab-Athon (The Conclusion)
If you didn’t see my post earlier, I listened to all 7 Death Cab for Cutie studio LPs today as a final means of celebration for Kintsugi’s release tomorrow! It was great to listen to every album in one day, granted it was a bit tiresome, but a fun experience overall. It really put into perspective how unique each individual album is.
Well, anyways, I’m going to be going to bed soon. I’m ditching class tomorrow because school should not even be open on a holiday! When I wake up in the morning, I’ll log my journey into listening to Kintsugi, haha. And then we can all talk about it for the next while! I’m very excited! I’ll see you all in the morning.
We learned everything about their new album Kintsugi to their thoughts on Seth Cohen's obsession with the band on The O.C.
Oh, hey look, my vinyl bundle made it to Orlando already!
I have not checked the mail yet, so there’s a possibility it could be here today (which if it is, I don’t even know what I’ll do...probably vomit), but if not, it should definitely get here tomorrow, which means I won’t have to buy another vinyl copy from the record store to keep my release day plans intact! So everything seems to be working out in the end. Nice.
(Also, I’m taking a little 10-15 min break from the marathon. The Photo Album has finished so Transatlanticism is next after my break.)
Death Cab for Cutie Marathon!
As for my last bit of Kintsugi pre-release celebration, I’m going to be marathoning all of Death Cab for Cutie’s 7 studio LPs! I’ve never marathon-ed a band’s discography before; I haven’t even marathon-ed any movie franchises either. So, this will be my first marathon of anything, and I’m super excited, however, I’m sure it’s going to be one big bawl-fest. I’ve wanted to do this because it will give me the chance to listen to each Death Cab album one more time before their new album is released tomorrow.
I may or may not live post during this...we’ll see how it goes. I’m also going to try to keep this pretty consecutive and take minimal breaks in between albums.
Anyways, I’m getting ready to spin Something About Airplanes now!