Death Cab for Cutie

Despite claims by the band (not to mention the bold extended opening vamp of the memorable ”˜I Will Posses Your Heart’), Narrow Stairs was perhaps a refinement of Death Cab’s keening pop melancholy than an overhaul. To call Open Door, as some have, a collection of songs that was left out of the former because it didn’t fit the overall feel, is perhaps a bit misleading. These four songs plus one demo are as full of chirpy wide-eyed sadness as anything the Washington state quartet did then or before. Every clapped, thrashed-out and strummed rhythm here is kept company by LV Ben Gibbard’s typically undemanding observations about “kissing like lonely people” (”˜Little Bribes’), “fantasies of being alone” (My Morning Jacket-ish ”˜A Diamond and a Tether’) and “bridges engulfed in flames” (”˜I Was Once a Loyal Lover’). The running commentary of mildly pleasing guitar-heavy singalongs reaches its apex on ”˜My Mirror Speaks,’ which is likely to become a bit of a hit in the wake of Stairs charting at Number 1. As a closer though, down-tempo ”˜Talking Bird’ lends a bit of dullness to this collection, putting Open Door a step behind the promise of its predecessor. Another regular day at work.