And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men
First, I'd like to say hello to probably the only person reading this who actually cares, hello Ren. With that out of the way, onto the review.
So, where to start with Plans? Plans is Death Cab's first album to be released on another label outside of usual indie label Barsuk, and is released by Atlantic. Being their first major release, and following the popularity they seem to have gained thanks to appearing both on Seth's wall and in the Baitshop on the O.C. Fears (mocked by Death Cab themselves) started to circulate that the band would change their sound to appeal to a wider audience, but that hasn't happened, Plans is classic Death Cab.
The album opens with "Marching Bands Of Manhattan" is reminiscent of the slow paced building songs seen on Transatlanticism, and builds to Ben's beautiful repetition of "Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole, just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound, but while you debate half empty or half full, it slowly rises, your love is gonna drown." "Soul Meets Body" is an upbeat acoustic jaunt that'll probably be the single. "Summer skin" is a slow song about fleeting summer love, and "Different Names for the Same Thing", Gibbard's personal favourite, is mostly piano and echo, and tells of the frustration of communication in a foreign country and a second half that sounds like it would be more suited on a Postal Service album. "I Will Follow You in the Dark" is another acoustic upbeat song, this time about death and the afterlife, that seems to have a little Iron & Wine feel to it. "Someday You Will be Loved" is a downbeat song about the end of relationships, and how all broken hearts eventually mend when you find the person who's right for you, and "Crooked Teeth" if probably the weakest song on Plans, somewhat reminiscent of the weakest song on Transalantacism, "The Sound of Settling". The ninth track, "What Sarah Said", is for my money the best song on Plans. It has the classic Gibbard lyrical imagery, and reminds me of everything I love about Death Cab, closing with the lines "Love is watching someone die. So who's gonna watch you die?". "Brothers on a Hotel Bed" is also one of the albums strongest songs, comparing the distance between two lovers in bed after a fight to the distance kept between brothers when they have to share one. The final track, while not the weakest, is probably the biggest disappointment. "Stable Song" is just "Stability" (from the Stability EP) with the long instrumental parts removed, making it much shorter. The result is that the epicness and atmosphere of the song is lost, making the original far superior.
If you like Death Cab, or good indie music in generally, Plans is worth the purchase. While not as good as earlier Death Cab work such as Something About Aeroplanes or We Have the Facts and we are Voting Yes, its just as good as Transatlanticism. Yes, it's more of the same thing, but if something isn't broke, don't fix it, and if you want something different, then there's always the Postal Service.