New Death Cab For Cutie - "A Diamond And A Tether" (Stereogum Premiere)
The next stop on our track-a-day premiere of Death Cab's new Narrow Stairs companion Open Door EP is, fittingly, Track Two. And it's a stark shift from the happy jangle of EP opener "Little Bribes." Ben's scene-setting lyric: "Pity, take pity on me / 'Cause I'm not half the man I should be / Always turning to run from the people I should not be afraid of." Aww. Walla's production touches bloom in the hook and more so in the second verse, turning this simple and lovely strummer into a tender confession of wimpiness. Think open-air summer shows, with as many cellphones waving back and forth as recording the moment for YouTube.
The Open Door EP is available digitally on 3/31, physical release to follow, via Atlantic. You'll be able to buy it on deathcabforcutie.com or pre-order now at iTunes.
The songs:
01 "Little Bribes"
02 "A Diamond And A Tether"
03 "My Mirror Speaks"
04 "I Was Once a Loyal Lover"
05 "Talking Bird" (demo)
The tour dates:
04/05 - Toronto, Ontario @ The Sound Academy
04/07 - Upper Darby, PA @ Tower Theatre *#
04/08 - Washington, DC @ DAR Constitution Hall *#
04/09 - Davidson, NC @ John Belk Arena/Davidson College *#
04/10 - Louisville, KY @ Louisville Palace *#
04/11 - Memphis, TN @ Orpheum Theatre *#
04/12 - Tulsa, OK @ The Brady Theater *#
04/13 - Omaha, NE @ Holland Theatre *
04/15 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkings Auditorium *#
04/17 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom *#
04/18 - East Lansing, MI @ Breslin Events Center/Michigan State University *#
04/19 - Waukesha, WI @ Van Male Fieldhouse/Carroll College *#
04/22 - Bellingham, WA @ Mount Baker Theatre #
04/24 - Spokane, WA @ McCarthey Athletic Center/Gonzaga University *#
04/25 - Boise, ID @ The Morrison Center *#
04/27 - Sacramento, CA @ Memorial Auditorium *#
04/29 - La Jolla, CA @ RIMAC Arena/UC San Diego *
05/01 - Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall #!
05/02 - New Orleans, LA @ Contemporary Arts Center !
05/04 - Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium #!
05/05 - Birmingham, AL @ BJCC Concert Hall #!
05/06 - Atlanta, GA @ Fox Theatre #!
05/07 - Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
07/05 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl ^%
07/11 - Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre @#
07/14 - Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre @#
07/16 - Vancouver, British Columbia @ Pacific Coliseum %#
07/17 - Troutdale, Oregon @ Edgefield Amphitheatre %#
07/18 - Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Park %#
* with Cold War Kids
# with Ra Ra Riot
! with Matt Costa
^ with Tegan and Sara
% with New Pornographers
@ with Andrew Bird
Posted at 3:31 PM by amrit
Tags: Ben Gibbard | Chris Walla | Death Cab For Cutie
I love it!
Score = 16
I just gotta say, I love that this "I love it!" comment is rated highly. It's basically saying "You love it? I LOVE that you love it!" Happy redundancy
Score = 2
:) :) :) :)
Score = 4
these two tracks are already better than 90% of Narrow Stairs. This track in particular.
Score = 7
gibbard's hair looks creepy in that picture
Score = 2
OMG. He looks like a French painter from the early 1800s.
This song makes me tired. It's bad. DDD:
Score = -6
death cab's not the kind of band you listen to when you're trying to be all up-beat and giddy. go listen to some daft punk or something to do that esther.
i enjoyed this piece.
Score = 1
just his hair?
Score = -2
boring, and i love death cab.
Score = -7
yea, agreed. it's pretty & all, but they're better than this
Score = 7
i guess its pretty obvious why these didn't make the album cut. never the less a couple fun tracks. thanks guys.
Score = -2
DCFC have gone wayyy downhill with Narrow Stairs and this EP. They've become boring, predictable, sickeningly poppy. Couldn't believe when people described NS as 'dark' and 'edgy', it's the complete opposite.
Not to mention the fact that Ben was a complete stuck-up diva when I met him in Nov. Disappointing to someone who's a big fan of their earlier albums.
Score = -11
bummed but not surprised to hear that ben is a stuck-up diva. did anyone take note of his behavior last summer at the mccarren park pool show? his guitar kept going out of tune and he was acting like a little bitch about it; stomping his feet like a 6-year-old, glaring at his guitar tech, yelling at his guitar tech, sodomizing his guitar tech, etc. the rest of the band was sapped of energy and seemed embarrassed for him.
whatever, i still dig them. eat me.
Score = 8
That is a ton of bs that Ben is a diva. He seems all fancy and new at his shows cause he lost some weight and got contacts but when he came to talk to me and some other fans after one of his London shows, he had ruffled his hair, put on his glasses and threw on a hoodie like the good ole Ben Gibbard we all love. He is still the sweetheart he was and has definitely not sold out to a new pop-sound like you claim he has.
Score = 1
But they're going to tour with T&S so it's okay.
Score = -5
more crap from a crap band.
Score = -36
Ben Gibbard's the master of repeatedly saying the exact same thing over the course of 6 entire albums.
Score = -14
GOLLY no one EVER comes to fricken HAWAII!!!! D:
Score = 4
Llooks like he's trying to be Neil Young circa 1969 with that haircut.
Score = 3
could be a lot better.
this intentionally simple/conventional stuff is so odd to me. this song could have a better drum beat and old-school death cab riff that fits the same progression and it could fit on the photo album (in my opinion). but ever since transantlanticism, it seems like they are trying to over-simplify things (musically and especially lyrically). lame. we have the facts was so good...
Score = 5
this sounds like death cab putting a spin on that song poison oak by bright eyes
Score = -5
nice one
Score = 0
Uggg. I just feel like this band goes downhill with every album. How is that possible? I loved them so but you can hear their navels being gazed at more and more with every song. Such a bummer: I feel like in a few years we'll all barely remember them.
Score = -5
pretty similar to narrow stairs, so much for hoping for a sweeping change for their next release
Score = 0
Not the best DCFC that I've heard, but I do like it.
Score = 5
yea it was okay i guess not too great really the other albums were way better give me Plans and Transatlanticism anyday these new songs they have up here so far seem to stray a bit from the good DCFC but thats just my opinion still my favorite band
Score = -3
Have we met?
Score = 2
You all go ape shit just because Narrow Stairs, and now Open The Door EP is a bit different then what they used to do. But people change, things change. So just chill the fuck out. DCFC is still AMAZING.
Score = 1
not bad at all - a bit mellow, but decent writing, and I love Walla-Walla's production, especially the organ bed and the treated guitar during that little solo. But silly me, I went and read the comments, and HOLD UP about the music, LeT'S LiKe tOtAlLy tALk aBoUt GiBbaRd's HAIR!!1! God bless people who are hear for MUSIC instead of hipster crap gossip.
Side note: Did anybody else notice the phrase "Diamond and a Tether" repeated a few times in this song? Think this might actually be track #2 from the EP, fellas
Score = 0
(*in response to "Side Note"): and I just noticed I can't read posts fer shitt. My bad, I missed the labeling (*strikes self in head with nearest grammatical dictionary*)
Score = -2
Oh no! No Massachusetts tour dates?
I'll be praying for you guys to visit us.
A Diamond And A Tether always makes me seem to want to cry.
Score = 0
What an amazing track! Death Cab has this great ability to create songs that take you deeper. It seems many are searching for answers in life and this band seems to have some answers~! Thank You your constant emotional flow.
Score = 0
Ben Gibbard looks like the dutch boy from the pain bucket. This song is terrible, just like everything I've ever heard; they're going downhill.
Score = 0