We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes

by

Death Cab for Cutie

Edit

We have the facts is definately my favorite death cab cd. The songwriting is phenominal as is the music which directly corresponds to gibbards lyrics. The whole idea of doing a concept album is brilliant. If anyone doesnt know the concept of the album here it is. most of it is from fakejazz.com

"Title Track" opens as he shares an evening and a cigarette with a female friend. The night of conversation turns physical. Before the moment has even started, Gibbard is already into regret, but he retains some hope.

That hope is quickly killed two songs later in "For What Reason." The song takes a nimble bass line, harsh guitars, and lots of noise to add to the bitterness of Gibbard lashing out at the woman for being "so slick with that sarcastic slew of phrases like 'I thought you knew,' while keeping me in hot pursuit." What he does not know is that she is engaged.

Hopes and desires crushed, the story takes a detour as Gibbard takes to the road for the songs "Lowell, MA" (named after Jack Kerouac's hometown for obvious reasons), "405," and "Little Fury Bugs," using the free time for introspection.

The climax of the story happens over the pair "Company Calls" and "Company Calls Epilogue". Now the singer continues the thread, pleading for the woman to "destroy this mock shrine." However, Gibbard isn't able to convey these thoughts. "The figures on your wedding cake" do not represent him so he decides he must keep his distance, "mail(ing) a postcard sending greetings from the Eastern Block" instead of crashing the wedding. But he can't just sit there. In the "...Epilogue," the guitar sound becomes almost mournful as Gibbard shows up at the wedding, merely a guest at the celebration for the death of his dreams. He wishes he could drunkenly crash the festivities and let his feelings be known, but he can't and won't "spit it out when the date's been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately."

The songwriting and guitar-work on this album death cab's best. The production is also amazing, with the vocals sound as if they were coming right from his head. Death cab has not made and album that tops this yet. Hopefully they will on their next cd, which i am sure will be great because death cab only puts out great albums.

My first exposure to Death Cab was from Plans. Great album. I then moved to Transatlanticism. Another great record. My most recent purchase was this one, We Have The Facts.

On the surface, it's obvious this is Death Cab. Their sound is fairly unique. After several listens, though, I've decided that I definitely like their latest two releases much better.

This is a good album. Check out Title Track, Lowell MA, and Scientist Studies for more of what you love about Death Cab. I think the reason this release doesn't rate higher, though, is that it just doesn't stick out like their later releases.

Many have said that Death Cab has now "sold out". Puh-lease. Just because you sign with a major label, does that imply you have now sold out? I don't buy into that at all. The fact is that Death Cab has matured over the last several years.

If you're a Death Cab fan already, by all means, buy this. If you're not and you're looking for an entry point, you'd probably enjoy Transatlanticism or Plans much more. I do enjoy this, but it's better for background music while I'm working than for pure listening enjoyment. I'm still going to end up buying more of their older stuff, though.