Cranberries and Vodka Death Cab is no SPENCER LEPLER arcade layout editor

death march are back, BJORN MYRUM . yet this time they are a kinder, gen- staff writer tler fruit. Gone are their dear polit- Death Cab For Cutie's newest release, The Pho.to , is a pleas- ical inspired songs. Instead, this urable mixture of pop and thoughtfulness. It includes everything from deep album is much more an affirmation emotion to catchy lyrics and tunes that flow together beautifully, making of life. this record definitely worth checking out. This -based band sounds Comparing this CD to The Faithfully Departed, it is hard to believe these nothing like the "Seattle Sound" coined by MTV, but is more on par with are the same Irish punk pop stars that rocked the early 90s. Their rage has toned , Travis, and The Charlatans UK. down quite a bit. This is evident in "Time is Ticking Out." The lyrics read like men- contains 10 tracks, each a bit different than the other, but tal wonderings, and the main instrumentation is very mellow. they flow together so nicely that the listener is unable to listen to just one It seems as if has run out of melodic ideas being that the tracks sound or two tracks. The whole album has no need for cliches or cryptic metaphors so similar. The phra&ing of "Do You Know" is almost identical to "Never Grow but instead straightforwardly presents the lyrical meaning. As the songs Old." progress through the album, Death Cab for Cutie gradually paints pictures The title track of the CD "Wake up and Smell the Coffee" is edgier than the other of moments and situations in your head. ' tracks, though a pale comparison to "Hollywood" or "Salvation." The lyrics read One of the strongest tracks on the album is "A Movie Script Ending." It like a primer in pop song writing. They are simple to remember and are grouped contains so much feeling that it could be overwhelming at times, but still by threes. How can manages to flow smoothly. Other highlights you argue with are "We Laugh Indoors" and "Why Do You lyrics like "wake Want To Live Here." Each song contains up, wake up, wake surprises and quirks that bring richness up, shut up, shut into this album. The richness of the guitars, up, shut up?" It drums and vocals in The Photo Album all would be like.' work together to create a nice laid-back feel- banging your head ing and an overall great record. against a wall in hopes of moving it. All in all, this is a far cry from a bad CD. The arrange- Sweet dreams and ment of songs is pleasant, though the tempo could be nightmares on Elm Street more varied. If you JOHN ZEISS are looking for a senior staff writer rose colored view, this CD is for you. Ah, bands can be so frustrating sometimes. A group that is horribly hit and All things consid- miss can be worse than a band that is just plain horrible. If they get it so right ered, these cran- some of the time, why can't they do so all of the time, right? Such is the case with berries are just not Lanterna, a little instrumental post rock outfit out of Seattle, and their new album your father's Elm Street. FILE rttorn favorite pop band With the title track, the album starts off well. It has a nice lazy day kind of feel, Oh, how we long for the days of the angst filled Cranberries! Tear! anymore. ounding somewhat like Japancakes minus the slide guitar. The same mellow my mind mentality pervades on "Departures" and "Glass," although the latter doe rock out at the end. And "B Minor" has a jangly, echoing urgency that would work w 11 on a film score. If all the songs on Elm Street were this good, the album would tally a perfect score. Unfortunately, however, things get bad, then get worse. "Spirits" ambles around all Eno-esque, not doing much of anything, and therefore becoming bor- Roman ing fast. Lanterna make the same mistake later on the album with "Dog Days" and "Smoke," which recalls Pink Floyd's instrumental work circa Meddle or Dark Pizza Side, only a lot less interesting. The worst is when Lanterna devolves into pure cheeze. "Wolves" actually has the sounds of wolves howling in the background, and the second half of "Dog Days" has pumped in cricket and ocean sounds. Very frightening, as this is post rock -which in the hand of bands like Mog- Specializing ｩ ｾ great food and prompt delivery to wai and Tortoise has b en some of the most the Uptown and Fountainblev areas as well as original mu ic to come along in years· -·lean- • Tulane and Loyola Universities for the past I 0 years. ing way too close to being New Age. Week.days I I a.rn . - I a.m. If Lantcrna had just stuck to acoustic instru- ｗ ･ ･ ｫ ･ ｮ ､ ｾ I I a.m . . 2 a.m. mentals, £/111 Street would have been a much nicer path to follow. As it is, it's a road on whi h the highs arc high, but the lows are embarrassingly low. arcade reviews 12.07.01 17