Sign In to rate and review
CRITIC REVIEWS
90
Much like Arcade Fire, they have long been a band that seems to understand or grapple with our modern times and who people run to, to either mirror their complex feelings or to get some sense of what we should be feeling at all.
90
Kicking off their third decade post-Barsuk, Death Cab continue their evolution in fascinating and rewarding ways, somehow managing to surprise with fresh directions and sounds yet unheard from this ever-reliable crew.
90
With its apparent ’80s alt and New Wave influences and timely lyrics, DCFC’s newest offering represents both a creative rebirth and necessary artistic statement. It is a bold return to form, a worthy soundtrack to the remainders of our haunted lives.
80
A record that finds its voice in emerging into musical freedoms found in separation.
80
Death Cab are back with a bang and a new-found self-assurance.
80
The stories collected on Death Cab For Cutie's tenth album are rich in both detail and substance, with solidary lines that can unravel you.
80
Another solid addition to the band’s canon, it’s great to hear them probing at the edges of their signature sound.
11mo
80
While it may not be on the same level as their highest highs, it's reassuring to see a band get as close as they have to revisiting their peak so late in their career.
80
The Washington quintet’s tenth album is a reflective collation of calmness and chaos in an ever-changing world.
80
Death Cab are back and proving why their television exposure twenty years earlier is still so justified.
80
10 albums and 25 years into their career, the Washington indie veterans come back mature and assured but loaded with that early melodic magic.
80
Death Cab for Cutie show their place in the indie rock pantheon on Asphalt Meadows while also producing music deserving of consideration with some of their best early work.
76
Death Cab for Cutie underscore their range and numerous eras on Asphalt Meadows. Uniting the past and the present, it’s the perfect mnemonic for this band’s legacy.
74
The album is – by turns – fun, sad, lethargic, exciting, and genuinely stirring. A demonstration not only of what the band has done, but what it can do. And as good an example as any that streamlining one’s sound does not always mean losing inspiration.
74
At last, the band’s 10th album restores their creative momentum. If the songs don’t feel as lived-in, at least they unlock the repressed memory of what it was like to be deeply moved by Death Cab for Cutie.
74
With Asphalt Meadows, they show us that, when the stars align, there’s still electricity to be found. And incidentally, that seems a fittingly optimistic and apt result of an album dedicated to the search for meaning.
70
On their 10th album there’s something about Ben Gibbard’s plaintive vocals, combined with his band’s ability to create a dreamy melody, which can transport you back in time.
70
Gibbard's freighted eloquence gives Asphalt Meadows its unsettling immediacy.
70
Swim against the tide of received wisdom and you will find much to love about Asphalt Meadows, that feels like success to me.
60
It’s not quite as good as their last album ‘Thank You For Today’ but let’s face it, it’s still just about worth a listen especially if you like the worlds Gibbard weaves with his words.
60
Even if the Cabbies never change their honeyed MOR tune, they tend to its depths and details with warming care.
55
Ben Gibbard shows off his most evocative writing in years and producer John Congleton yields some experimental home runs, but the band’s 10th record too often falls into old bad habits.
I genuinely want to cry tears of joy right now.
Death Cab are a band that I discovered in middle school. "Cath" started playing on the radio while my mom was driving me to school, and something about their sound enchanted me. Their sorrowful, yet serene and relaxing indie rock sound just had a grip on me. I have so many wonderful memories tied to their 2000s work (and even some of Codes and Keys). WIth that in mind, you can imagine that I've been disappointed with their output over ... read more
As a big Death Cab fan, this is their best LP since the 00s. This feels like an accumulation of a lot of their expierments and shifts over the last 10 years but in a much more impactful way. The dynamics between their meloncholic beatiful atmospheres and the harsher distortion on certain tracks make this album feel more urgent. Overall, very pleased and the most sonically interesting death cab album in a minute
A short review: Death Cab For Cutie have always been a band that I’d never loved nor hated. A lot of people I know with great music taste do love them though so it’s time I gave Death Cab a chance.
I Don’t Know How I Survive: The guitar based verse1 into a dynamic chorus is nice, the second verse being more edm and keys based is interesting but the second chorus drags a little bit I do like the bridge and return to the intro at end, 8/10.
Roman Candles doesn’t really ... read more
great up until I Miss Strangers then has couple forgettable track up until the closer which is SO fucking different to what this album established, that i can't help but like it
Welcome back Death Cab!
![파란노을 [Parannoul] - After the Magic](https://cdn2.albumoftheyear.org/200x/album/516779-after-the-magic_1024.jpg)
Become a Donor
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Donor badge, no ads + more benefits.
Advertisement
Track List
| 1 | I Don’t Know How I Survive 3:40 | 83 |
| 2 | Roman Candles 2:10 | 82 |
| 3 | Asphalt Meadows 4:05 | 79 |
| 4 | Rand McNally 4:06 | 73 |
| 5 | Here to Forever 3:46 | 83 |
| 6 | Foxglove Through The Clearcut 5:15 | 89 |
| 7 | Pepper 2:48 | 77 |
| 8 | I Miss Strangers 4:24 | 78 |
| 9 | Wheat Like Waves 3:38 | 75 |
| 10 | Fragments From the Decade 4:38 | 75 |
| 11 | I’ll Never Give Up On You 3:31 | 69 |
Total Length: 42 minutes
Year End Lists
| #6 | / | Chorus.fm |
| #12 | / | Under the Radar |
| #18 | / | MAGNET |
| #24 | / | MondoSonoro |
| #34 | / | Slant Magazine |
| #37 | / | RIFF |
| / | Atwood Magazine |
Please stay on topic. To go off topic, head to the General Chat.
Sign in to comment
9mo
Wish this album had more noisy artsy stuff like the first two tracks and Foxglove, still a great indie album tho
1y
I keep fucking forgetting to listen to this god dammit i'm gonna quit my job so i only have time to listen to this album
Added on: May 7, 2022