Quick Hits: Grapevine Fires - Death Cab for Cutie

It’s hard to discern whether or not Death Cab’s Narrow Stairs faltered amidst immense expectation (expectations that were…well…to be expected at this point in the band’s career) or that it simply wasn’t the band’s finest effort. Surely they were admired for their choice of recording technique - mixing it up a bit in an all-too-digital musical landscape - as well as their insistance on presenting a much more raw and brooding side of themselves following 2005’s more mainstream(ed) Plans. Still, despite a number of the record’s tracks finding a comfortable home on Alt-Rock radio, it seemed as though the band’s attempt at a more throwback sound lacked the lasting appealing fans had waited 3 long years for.

Truthfully, I always find myself unable to express my honest opinions of the record, as I was unsure from the get-go of what I was to expect. All things considered however, lately I find myself returning to Stairs with a new found appreciation for the record’s individual samplings. Perhaps as an entire unit, as an album, the record fell short? One such track - in my humble opinion, one of the finest in the band’s expanding catalogue - is the above track (with brand spanking new animated video!), Grapevine Fires. Tonight when the entire East Coast get’s engulfed in mother nature’s winter fury, try throwing some headphones on and listening to this jam as the flakes make their way to the ground.