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Plans
Current price: $7.69
Barnes and Noble
Plans
Current price: $7.69
Size: CD
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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
and
was that
went on to be the finest release of
's canon.
Plans
definitely comes close to that mark, but falls slightly short. In comparison to the dry, raw production of
Transatlanticism
,
is warm and polished, the kind of album expected from a band obsessed with the sound of
Fleetwood Mac
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,
is the
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
is your favorite: the melancholic, hopeless romantic or the one who wears its heart on its sleeve with unbridled energy and passion. If
was
Pet Sounds
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
exorcising the demons of
Phil Collins
that haunt him.
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
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
and
was that
went on to be the finest release of
's canon.
Plans
definitely comes close to that mark, but falls slightly short. In comparison to the dry, raw production of
Transatlanticism
,
is warm and polished, the kind of album expected from a band obsessed with the sound of
Fleetwood Mac
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,
is the
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
is your favorite: the melancholic, hopeless romantic or the one who wears its heart on its sleeve with unbridled energy and passion. If
was
Pet Sounds
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
exorcising the demons of
Phil Collins
that haunt him.
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
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