The Open Door by Death Cab For Cutie

Keeping up their reputation as makers of happy music for depressed people, Death Cab For Cutie have released The Open Door EP. It’s sad that this release is only five tracks long, because it honestly gave me far more listening pleasure than either of their other two, full-length CDs did.

The EP is apparently supposed to give listeners a taste of what didn’t make the cut for last year’s full-length release, Narrow Stairs. If these songs had been included, maybe the band would have had more than just one hit song off the whole album.

The first four tracks – “Little Bribes,” “A Diamond And A Tether,” “My Mirror Speaks” and “I Was Once A Loyal Lover,” are excellent Death Cab music – they’re lyrically deep and captivating, yet not too emo or intense, and the music is pleasant to listen to over and over again, which makes Death Cab stand out from their rock contemporaries.

The last track, a demo of “Talking Bird,” is perhaps the most slow and sombre of the lot, but its slowed down pace brings the EP to a conclusive finish, so the lack of energy doesn’t detract from the rest of the work, luckily.

You’re really going to have to be a fan of the band, or be frivolous with your cash to buy a record with just five tracks on, but “The Open Door EP” definitely won’t disappoint you if you do get it.