Plans

Plans

by Death Cab for Cutie
Plans

Plans

by Death Cab for Cutie

CD

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Overview

For your consideration: a wildly successful indie rock band with a legion of followers on an equally successful, highly credible independent label makes the jump to major-label powerhouse Atlantic, leading to much chagrin and speculation among its fans as they awaited with bated breath for what would happen to the group. The result was For Your Own Special Sweetheart, inarguably the most polished and fully realized album of Dischord alumnus Jawbox's career. Fast forward ten years and you find Barsuk's Death Cab for Cutie in the same position, making the same move. A new label, a larger crowd (thanks to their repeated appearances on The OC), and a side project of Ben Gibbard (Postal Service) that very well overshadowed the success of his main project. All of the moves were perfectly aligned to take the little band that could into the rock stratosphere. But the difference between Jawbox and Death Cab for Cutie was that For Your Own Special Sweetheart went on to be the finest release of Jawbox's canon. Plans definitely comes close to that mark, but falls slightly short. In comparison to the dry, raw production of Transatlanticism, Plans is warm and polished, the kind of album expected from a band obsessed with the sound of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. Chris Walla does an amazing job bringing the group's sound in a different direction than before without compromising too many of the things that made the group sound great to begin with. Thematically, Plans is the Death Cab for Cutie suitable for graduate students, world-weary and wiser from their experiences, realizing they can no longer be love-starved 20-somethings without a clue yet hopelessly cursed to face the same issues. And there's merit to be had in acknowledging that maturity, for even blink-182 figured out their age and released their "serious" album. Gibbard's wispy, poetic lyrics (which could easily have been stolen from Aimee Mann's dressing room while she wasn't looking) still remain an artery from which the rest of the band beats and are some of his finest ever, but this time around the band aligns itself more with a series of emotional murmurs rather than a heart attack. The album winds its way from one ballad to the next, with brief stopovers at moderately up-tempo numbers to help break things up a bit. And it's this sense of resignation that either makes or breaks the album, depending on which Death Cab for Cutie is your favorite: the melancholic, hopeless romantic or the one who wears its heart on its sleeve with unbridled energy and passion. If Transatlanticism was Gibbard's Pet Sounds and Postal Service was SMiLE, then this is definitely Wild Honey, loved by adoring new fans and those who enjoy the ballads. But those hoping for a bit more -- for the bar to be raised higher -- might find this a mildly predictable exercise in Gibbard exorcising the demons of Phil Collins that haunt him. Plans is both a destination and a transitional journey for the group, one that sees the fulfillment of years of toiling away to develop their ideas and sound. But it's with the completion of those ideas that band is faced with a new set of crossroads and challenges to tread upon: to stay the course and suffer stagnation or try something bold and daringly new with their future. Which road they'll take will make all the difference. ~ Rob Theakston

Product Details

Release Date: 08/30/2005
Label: Atlantic
UPC: 0075678383427
Rank: 19889

Tracks

  1. Marching Bands of Manhattan
  2. Soul Meets Body
  3. Summer Skin
  4. Different Names for the Same Thing
  5. I Will Follow You into the Dark
  6. Your Heart Is an Empty Room
  7. Someday You Will Be Loved
  8. Crooked Teeth
  9. What Sarah Said
  10. Brothers on a Hotel Bed
  11. Stable Song

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Death Cab for Cutie   Primary Artist
William Swan   Trumpet
Jason McGerr   Drums
Ben Gibbard   Piano,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar
Nick Harmer   Guitar (Bass)
Sean Nelson   Vocals (Background)
Chris Walla   Guitar,Keyboards

Technical Credits

Chris Walla   Audio Production,Mixing Engineer,Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Recording,Group Member
John Byrd   Live Sound
Jenn Leibhart   Assistant
Robbie Skrocki   Engineer
Beau Sorenson   Engineer,Consultant
David Schoenwetter   Composer
Lonya Nenashev   Assistant
Mary Gormley   A&R
Adde Russell   Artwork,Layout Design
Sam Riback   A&R
Jason Patrick McGerr   Composer
Norman Blake   Composer
Adrian Gross   Composer
Kevin Suggs   Engineer
Kip Beelman   Engineer
Jason McGerr   Composer,Group Member
Ben Gibbard   Composer,Group Member
Nick Harmer   Composer,Group Member
Mike Lapierre   Engineer
Mike Zirkel   Assistant
Justin Armstrong   Engineer
Roger Seibel   Mastering
Austin Sousa   Engineer
Will Markwell   Live Sound
Sean Nelson   Harmony
Chris Shaw   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Hari Berrier   Assistant
Stuart Hallerman   Engineer
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