Track Listing

1. The New Year
2. Lightness
3. Title and Registration
4. Expo '86
5. The Sound of Settling
6. Tiny Vessels
7. Transatlanticism
8. Passenger Seat
9. Death of an Interior Decorator
10. We Looked Like Giants
11. A Lack of Color

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51219 in Music
• Released on: 2003-10-06
• Number of discs: 1

Time Out, October 8, 2003
Death Cab For Cutie play truly emotive rock with awe-ispiring conviction.

Uncut, November, 2003
This is a record of rare beauty and poise.

Kerrang!, September 20, 2003
Their best offering to date: dreamy and lovelorn in places, but also epic, gritty and twisted in others.

Customer Reviews

This is It
First of all you've got to get over the name. It's a terrible, terrible name. Every time I tell a friend that they have to buy the new album by Death Cab for Cutie their eyes glaze over and no amount of missionary-zeal at the glorious music of this album can ever win them back. But it's important to keep trying, because when this album gets you, it's for the long term.
The first couple of times through, Transatlanticism pretends to be a pretty good indie rock album. The opener "The New Year" pushes all the right buttons and proper pop songs like Expo '86 and The Sound of Settling have you humming along. A few piano ballads lead the way to a full-on rocker in We Look Like Giants and the Elliot-Smith-a-like A Lack of Color closes the album on a strangely low key note. But then you listen again, and again, and you realise that there's much more to it than that.
I could go on about the beautiful melodies, the keen sense of unease, and wonderful lyrics of heartbreak, regret and warm melancholy all day frankly, but I'll keep this short and just say something about the title track.
Epic in scope, full of intelligence and central to the album's theme of love ended by distance it's a perfectly realised gem. Beginning from a simple piano refrain, Ben Gibbard starts singing oddly about how the Atlantic was created and how, though "most people were overjoyed," he "thought it less like a lake and more like a moat." More images of insurmountable distance are added before he lays his cards on the table "I need you so much closer" he repeats again and again. And then, after the music has built up towards it's peak, he lets go of all his studied articularcy and simply sings "So come on, come on" as if there's nothing more he can do. I'm telling you, it's a heartbreaker.
Simply put, every song has it's own moment of genius, every song has been lovingly constructed, every song will have you singing along, and then you'll think about the words you're singing and if you're anything like me you'll think "blimey, this is genius."

Where have you been all my life
I hadnt really heard of Death Cab For Cutie ubtil a couple of months ago and thought they were good but was not sure if they were good enough for me to buy an album of theirs.

Then a couple of days ago i borught this ablum and have not stopped listening to it since then. It is one of those albums that is so mellow and fun to listen to. My favourite song if i had to pick one would be title and registration but be fair all of the songs are brillant. I think i might have to buy more albums of theirs at some point.

I would totally recomend if like people like snow patrol and elliott smith.

death cab anymore?.........

LO-FI indie rock is the path that dcfc originally walked down. they made some great albums, 'We have the facts and we're voting yes' being my favourite, but the 'Photo Album' also contained a number of truely inspiring tracks. 'A Movie Script Ending', '405' and 'Company Calls' being some of my favourites. Then they made Transatlanticism.

Do not get me wrong, this is a fantastic album; but i don't think it is what made me love them. Rock is a much greater part of their sound now, and it tends to be anthemic rock, rather than the highly intricate and delightful rock (or at least indie) that we've seen before in songs like 'company calls'.

DCFC do still have a great ear for melody, and it comes in pints on this album. I am particularly fond of track 2 'Lightness' that still has the hooks that old DCFC had yet is much darker in atmosphere that anything i have heard from them before. 'Passenger Seat', 'Expo 86' and 'Tiny Vessels' are also very much worth investigating. In fact it is difficult to find a single dud track on the album. It is in fact pretty perfect - except the song 'Title and registration' that comes immediately after 'Lightness' is such a change in atmosphere and tempo that it feels a tad misplaced but this is MAJOR QUIBBLING on my part.

Ben Gibbard still displays his nack for writing interesting and engaging lyrics. In fact I've just heard the song 'The Dream of Evan and Chan' which is a collaboration between Dntel and Ben Gibbard which beautifully demonstrates the delicate and wonderfully interesting lyrics that he is capable of writing.

I cannot recommend this album enough to a Death Cab noobie, but if you want a more challenging and rewarding listen, buy 'We Have The Facts....." or 'The Photo Album' instead.

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5 out of 5 - rocked up, but still beautiful.