Death Cab for Cutie is back to break your heart with their ninth studio album, Thank You for Today. Released almost 20 years to the day after their debut, the album follows typical Death Cab themes of love, loss and the way things could have been.
Ben Gibbard’s vocals sound fuzzy and distant on the two opening tracks, “I Dreamt We Spoke Again” and “Summer Years,” which is appropriate considering both songs are about meetings that never happen. “Your Hurricane” sounds more like previous Death Cab fare, both musically and lyrically, as it chronicles Gibbard’s inability to clean up someone else’s mistakes. “Autumn Love” may be the most Death Cab title ever, but the track is one of the weaker ones on the album, growing repetitive over its 4-minute run time.
The album closes with “60s & Punk” about growing older in the rock world; at 42 Gibbard is a little early to be considering this, but it fits with the nostalgic themes of the album, and is a great closer as he sings that “the band plays you off.”
Score: 🌥️🌥️🌥️/5
Carolyn is a rock enthusiast with a soft spot for 2000’s pop-punk. She enjoys that her desk job lets her listen to lots of music, and she regularly contributes to her run club’s weekly playlist.