I got an unexpected 10 hours of sleep last night and am feeling a hot take coming on. Are people going to get unnecessarily angry if I say Asphalt Meadows has more in common with Codes & Keys from an experimentation standpoint than any other record in their discog? I like that record more than most people so it's definitely not a slight. And C&K is obviously poppier. But the blown out production and electronic components of some of the AM songs definitely remind me a little of sounds they were playing with on C&K
I love "Riptide" so much more in context than as a standalone single. It's probably one of the weakest songs on the record for sure, but comes in at just the right time that I don't mind it.
I mean... didn't he famously get sober after Narrow Stairs? Perhaps his voice changed after getting healthy rather than someone telling him to change the way he sang. Weird statement.
Hahah, I do love it but it's repetitive. Was just adding another example to what Craig was pointing out.
I don’t want to hear Brian bell sing lmao i was simply asking if that was something we actually knew or people just speculating online you goober
repetitive doesn't necessarily equal annoying though. the gold rush parts are just 1 of several annoying parts of a bad song.
I think for Andy it was a "stopped smoking cigarettes" thing (I interviewed him a year or two ago, he referenced this specifically, as I recall). Let's maybe cut singers some slack for making healthier choices. We probably wouldn't have either of these artists still releasing records if they didn't start taking care of their voices.
Okay, after that Asphalt Meadows spin I'm going to say it's still a good record but probably my least favorite in this very good late-period run they're having (TYFT - AM - IBYAT). It's the difference between like a 7/10 and an 8/10 though. Good band!
I'll admit I'm someone who generally gets annoyed by excessive repetition in songs, but it doesn't really bother me in the Death Cab discography.
damn pep talk just hit me But they make, they make no diffеrence When all of thе colors blend into black And if I raise the stakes and step out Out on the ledge, you gotta pull me back
I actually agree that the context helps it a lot. If it hadn't been the lead single I might not have gotten hung up on it so much.
as the person in this thread who seems to like Asphault the most I don’t take this as a slight because the good stuff on C&K is really good and good because of the experimentation and dynamics.
for the next few days, to make a point, I’m going to post “gold rush” every time I come to this thread until I’ve posted it as many times as it’s said in the song.
Man, I've said it before, but the original version of "Stability" is like...one of the best songs I've ever heard lol. A masterpiece for fans of those early records and also ironically feels a bit like a funeral for that first era of the band (Transatlanticism is part of the golden years obviously, but it always felt like a transitional record between their early sound and the more indie-pop direction of Plans to me).
Fun fact: You can post “gold rush” as many times as humanly possible and still not outnumber the amount of references to Chris Walla in a DCFC thread in 2026.