Death Cab for Cutie - Kintsugi: ALBUM REVIEW

This review comes at the request of a good friend. Which reminds me: if any of you reading have any requests for album reviews, playlists, listening suggestions, etc., by all means comment below!

Kintsugi is the eighth (wow, eighth!) studio album from indie rock kingpins Death Cab for Cutie, released this past March. It comes at a low point in the band's career and in the life of frontman Ben Gibbard: it's been years since their last successful album, Plans; second-in-command Chris Walla announced his departure from the band; and Ben is still in the wake of his divorce with his ex-wife, Zooey Deschanel.

It's understandable, then, that this album sounds moody and forlorn. The sadness even leaking into the symbolism of the album title -- kintsugi is a Japanese art form of repairing broken ceramics using flecks of gold.

Somehow, though, even with real loss and personal tragedy fueling it, the music ends up hollow and uninspired. As Ben chants on lead single "Black Sun" the chorus "How could something so fair be so cruel," I know why he's hurting, but I don't feel it. "You've Haunted Me All My Life" is bafflingly forgettable, when an earlier Gibbard would've spun gold from that song title alone.

Most of these songs, with about three exceptions, lack notable hooks, creative presentation, fresh ideas, artful compositions, or Death Cab's formerly-trademark clever and quirky lyrics. Listen to "Good Help (Is Hard to Find)" three times, wait a day, then hum it to me.

At its best, like on "Ghosts of Beverly Drive" and "Little Wanderer," Kintsugi shows the band locking together and creating memorable pieces of rock. Ben's imagery on the latter is reminiscent of his lyrical heyday, compiling a story of a modern, longing, long distance couple having separation anxiety and Skype issues, which was very relatable for my wife and I who basically lived six months of that. And "El Dorado" is probably the catchiest track on here. Definitely check out those three.

As a whole, the album can function as a statement by the band that the days of Manic Pixie Dream Boy rock are over. If that didn't do it, I think Ben hammered in that last nail at their performance at the Twilight Concert series this summer when he admitted to the audience with apparent chagrin, "I'm old enough now to be some of you guys' dads."

Death Cab are now focusing their creative energies on making Manic Middle Age Man indie adult contemporary (how's that for a genre?) So, if you want to forget Transatlanticism or The Photo Album and turn your head to the side and try to twist the point of view, then Kintsugi can be relevant. But if you look at it dead on, with the same cold starkness that Ben examines his life herein, you'll see broken porcelain and some gold flakes.

OVERALL SCORE: 5.8
Death Cab for Cutie – Kintsugi
1. No Room In Frame 2. Black Sun 3. The Ghosts of Beverly Drive 4. Little Wanderer 5. You've Haunted Me All My Life 6. Hold No Guns 7. Everything's A Ceiling 8. Good Help (Is So Hard to Find) 9. El Dorado 10. Ingenue 11. Binary Sea	O!HTT's COLORFUL SCORING SYSTEM 9-10 Holy. Crap. You must hear this song. One of the best of the year. 7-8 I'm so glad I have ears so that I can listen to this wonderful song. 5-6 Yeah, it's passable. Contributes to the vibe of the album, but not anything to write home about. 3-4 Ehh very mediocre or seriously flawed, there's a lot better music out there, or even on this album. 0-2 Good gravy, why must this song exist? One of the worst things that will enter your ears this year.