So my first listen I fucked up and didn’t realize my Apple Music was on shuffle so it’s gonna be weird going back and listening again with the correct track listing lol also, when envy the birds started I thought they were gonna break out into my hero by foo fighters
I finally found some time to listen to this. I was really impressed. As I said, nothing since Narrow Stairs has resonated with me. But this has fully grabbed my attention.
all of the discourse around this release has caused me to dig back into the discography as a whole, and damn, this band really does have a stellar catalogue of music. Even the stuff I don't care as much about is still very listenable and enjoyable. (except gold rush)
I dig Gold Rush in the context of the album. Hated it as a single. It's Pity & Fear I'd delete from their discography forever if I could. And Some Boys.
Yeah lots of codes and keys could disappear. Basically anything but you are a tourist, underneath the sycamore, and stay young go dancing is a pass for me. I will say though, those three keeps are BIG keeps. UTS is one of my favorite death cab songs period
I just listened to C&K the other day, trying to find something to like, and it's just all so forgettable
I like 7/11 tracks on C&K. But I also understand the forgettable criticism because I had to go back and remind myself of most of them. Forgot how piano based it is instead of guitar based.
I remember reading an interview with Ben talking about how it’s the only death cab album he wrote in piano and he felt way more depressed because he was living in LA
Codes & Keys is an album I always enjoy when I'm listening to it, but just lacks that special something that makes me want to go back to it frequently.
If you can afford having a car and gas and you aren’t an “I love LA!” person, my advice is to not move to LA proper. IMO and IME, better to spend a little extra time commuting every day than to have to exist within LA 24/7. A sense of peace washes over me every time I leave my job or a show and I get to leave LA and return to the outlying suburban sanctuary where there’s parking everywhere and no models or actors driving me off the road or blocking me from entering a freeway.
I love living in suburban LA. I'm paycheck to paycheck but that just means I get to enjoy the beauty of So Cal without the pressure of being someone. I'm renting a modest home with good friends. I eat fine and I can still get to downtown in 45 mins and the beach in an hour. Love it. I'd be so depressed if I actually lived in LA though.
Best album beginning to end since Narrow Stairs. Don’t get me wrong though. I didn’t hate anything in between. There’s been some great tracks, but the albums as a whole didn’t capture my interest like this one.
Album is nice. There's some standout tracks - the opener, the closer, Envy the Birds. Riptides grew on me very unexpectedly, I was not a fan of it as a single. Revisiting Asphalt Meadows though, I find that this new album doesn't deliver as much of a punch. I think the honesty and earnestness in the lyrics are definitely up there when it comes to post-C&K Death Cab, but musically, it doesn't grab me as much as Asphalt Meadows, or even Kintsugi. I think it flows better than Kintsugi, that said. Most importantly though, after spending time with this album, and revising their discography, I have realized that Codes and Keys is actually my favorite Death Cab record. Lol. I feel the atmosphere on that record truly stands out in their catalog; the Walla element is still there, and despite the ascertaining of many, I do not believe it is their 'happy' album, rather, their most personally inquisitive and experimental. I could go on, but that record is awesome, and I feel it has aged well with many.