Death Cab For Cutie has been releasing amazing albums for quite a number of years now and I doubt they’ll stop anytime soon, seeing as “Codes And Keys” is yet another winner. Opener “Home Is A Fire” quietly lures you into the album and prepares you for the title track in which Gibbard & co flirt with Oriental string arrangements. “You Are A Tourist” is a logical choice as first single with “Monday Morning” as a potential follow-up. And then there’s a song like “Unobstructed Views” that builds up nicely before Ben Gibbard finally opens his mouth about three minutes into the song.

Continually evolving without losing sight of what they were about in the first place, that’s what Death Cab is all about. After all these years, the guys have the perfect pop chorus down pat and like to wrap them in melancholic songs that never cease to touch you. Death Cab sounds amazingly sunny and sprightly for… well, being Death Cab. Honestly, I don’t really care whether the guys is depressed or happily married… as long as Gibbard keeps writing albums like this, you can count me in!