乐队名称：Death Cab for Cutie
专辑名称：Narrow Stairs
发行日期：2008年5月13日
发行厂牌：Atlantic/WEA
音乐风格：Indie Rock | Indie Pop | Alternative Pop/Rock
乐评：
原文链接 | 作者：Andrew Leahey | 评分：4/5
引用:
After spending the better part of a decade in the musical minor leagues, Death Cab for Cutie went pro with 2005's Plans, a record whose optimism and Technicolor sound gave the band enough leverage to finally enter the mainstream. "Soul Meets Body" became their biggest rock single to date, but it was Ben Gibbard's delicate love song, "I Will Follow You Into the Dark," that earned the quartet a Grammy nomination and legions of new fans. Some bands might have taken a cue from such success and resigned themselves to a career of acoustic ballads, not unlike the Goo Goo Dolls' transformation in the mid-'90s. But Narrow Stairs roughs up Plans' bright palette with something starker, more harrowing, and altogether darkened by Gibbard's blues. No longer crooning about immortal love or his desire to embrace all of Manhattan, the frontman lives inside his own troubled head on these 11 tracks — or at least the heads of the characters he conjures up with ease, like some music-minded novelist with a knack for pop melodies and witty observations. There's "Cath," an ill-married girl who "holds a smile like someone would hold a crying child," as well as the creepy stalker in "I Will Possess Your Heart," who simply demands that his intended lover give him the time of day. Elsewhere, Gibbard examines a friend's recent heartbreak by referencing her bedroom furniture ("Your New Twin Sized Bed"), offering up his concern — if not quite his help — while the band conjures up a lazy summer's day with gauzy keyboards and brightly chiming riffs. Such contrast between music and text plays an occasional role on Narrow Stairs, with songs like "No Sunshine" and "Long Division" pairing somber lyrics with upbeat orchestration. But the album largely paints itself as the darker, mysterious cousin to Plans — raw rather than polished, heartbroken rather than optimistic, enigmatic rather than energetic. Gibbard strings his words together with an army of free-flowing "ands" and "buts", and the resulting lyrics — long, uncoiling sentences with no clear end — mirror his characters' desperate attitudes. Narrow Stairs is far from desperate, however, and the album's willingness to steer Death Cab into unfamiliar territory (or, to reference an earlier lyric, "into the dark"), is by far its strongest asset.
2005年，Death Cab for Cutie发行了专辑《Plans》，并成功进军主流。而在此之前的五年多时间内，乐队一直置身于非主流音乐界。《Plans》中的乐观主义以及色彩斑斓的音乐是乐队最终进入主流市场的重要原因。专辑中的“Soul Meets Body”成为至今乐队最成功的摇滚单曲。不过，让乐队得到格莱美提名的却是主唱Ben Gibbard的温情歌曲“I Will Follow You Into the Dark”，同时这首歌曲也让乐队获得了一批新的歌迷。或许，某些乐队会把这种成功看作是一种暗示，并在此后依靠这种不插电的情歌风格来谋生，诚如乐队the Goo Goo Dolls在90年代中期的转型一样。但是，Death Cab for Cutie并没有这么做。乐队新专辑《Narrow Stairs》抛开了《Plans》中的明亮色调，反而换以一种更极端、更悲伤的曲风。主唱Gibbard的忧郁情怀更加重了这种暗色调，他不再深情歌颂不朽的爱情，也不再歌唱他对曼哈顿的热切渴望。在新专辑的11首歌曲中，他进入了自己不安的头脑，或者说是进入了他所虚构的角色的思绪之中，那个虚构人物就像是一个深谙流行旋律并且具有敏锐观察力的音乐小说家一样。歌曲“Cath”描写了一个婚姻不幸的名叫Cath的女孩，歌词说她“保持着微笑就像一个人怀抱着哭泣的孩子一样”；而歌曲“I Will Possess Your Heart”则描写了一个讨人厌的追求者要求自己幻想的爱人给他交往的机会。此外，在歌曲“Your New Twin Sized Bed”中，Gibbard通过一位朋友家的卧室家具（新双人床）来观察她最近悲伤的心境，同时表示出关心与援助，而乐队则通过轻柔的钢琴以及明亮和谐的吉他伴奏营造出一种悠懒夏日的感觉。这种使音乐与文字形成对比的手法也在专辑的其他地方出现，比如歌曲“No Sunlight”与“Long Division”，它们同时具备了欢快的配乐与忧郁的歌词。不过，总体来说，新专辑给人的感觉就像是《Plans》的一位阴郁、神秘的姊妹：粗糙胜于精细、悲伤胜于乐观、神秘胜于活泼。Gibbard将他的文字与大量的“and”和“but”自由地串接起来，所得歌词中到处是延伸开的长句子，没有明晰的结尾，这正反映了他性格中绝望的一面。当然，《Narrow Stairs》专辑本身并不是绝望，专辑体现出的乐队誓将“Death Cab”（破车）驶入未知版图的决心正是Death Cab for Cutie目前最重要的资本。
UKOO原创翻译，转载请注明
专辑列表：
1 Bixby Canyon Bridge
2 I Will Possess Your Heart
3 No Sunlight
4 Cath...
5 Talking Bird
6 You Can Do Better Than Me
7 Grapevine Fires
8 Your New Twin Sized Bed
9 Long Division
10 Pity and Fear
11 The Ice Is Getting Thinner
I Will Possess Your Heart
No Sunlight
Cath...
Your New Twin Sized Bed
Long Division
DL
