Albums to watch

Codes & Keys

Death Cab For Cutie

Codes & Keys

Seventh studio album from the Bellingham, Washington indie rock quartet

ADM rating[?]

6.6

Label
Atlantic
UK Release date
30/05/2011
US Release date
31/05/2011
  1. 9.0 |   BBC

    An understated and subtlety magnificent pleasure
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  2. 8.5 |   FasterLouder

    Arguably one of their finest efforts to date
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  3. 8.0 |   Spin

    Resting at a musical midpoint between Narrow Stairs' thorny emo-prog and the precise pop of Plans
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  4. 8.0 |   Q

    You get the feeling they've finally joined up the dots. Print edition only

  5. 8.0 |   The Digital Fix

    This record will touch that spot and stay there as a lasting touchstone of comfort
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  6. 8.0 |   The Independent

    It's not entirely successful, but the overall air of alienation overcome by communion is for the most part deftly achieved
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  7. 8.0 |   The Irish Times

    Seasoned with skyscraping ambition
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  8. 7.5 |   A.V. Club

    The new record is missing some of Stairs’ emotional heft, but Gibbard and the band offset it with a broadened sonic palette
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  9. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    These are resplendent songs, the sound of a sad-sack acquiescing that life might be pretty awesome after all
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  10. 7.0 |   NME

    Considering what they're clearly capable of, it doesn't go far enough. Print edition only

  11. 7.0 |   Rave Magazine

    Codes & Keys is, first and foremost, a Death Cab For Cutie record, so if you enjoy that familiar mix of melodic song writing and melancholic tendencies, there’s a good chance you’ll love this
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  12. 7.0 |   God Is In The TV

    It’s not going to topple their early-noughties peak, but this is a mature and wonderfully well written album
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  13. 7.0 |   Under The Radar

    The pleasures take a few listens to reveal themselves
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  14. 7.0 |   Entertainment.ie

    This is by no means Death Cab's finest piece of work, but it certainly maintains their place as one of the most steadfast bands in American indie music
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  15. 6.6 |   Beats Per Minute

    While Death Cab For Cutie seems as capable as ever at expressing themselves, they are running out of things to say. Or, at least, things worth hearing
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  16. 6.0 |   Consequence Of Sound

    An album with a deceptive simplicity, whose huge choruses tend to overshadow solid composition
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  17. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    Beautifully produced, there's something worth hearing on almost every track
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  18. 6.0 |   Slant Magazine

    Thanks in no small part to Death Cab, there's now a permanent niche for indie pop that's smart, sad, and refined, and Codes and Keys fills it nicely
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  19. 6.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    An album so doggedly middling that it barely even strives to make an impression
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  20. 6.0 |   Independent on Sunday

    The closest thing yet to a follow-up to Give Up by Gibbard's other concern, the Postal Service
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  21. 6.0 |   AU Review

    A pleasantly produced platter of easy-listening emo for grown up kids
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  22. 5.0 |   Pitchfork

    Death Cab sound miles apart from each other and, ultimately, from us
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  23. 5.0 |   No Ripcord

    There are plenty of good moments, but there are just as many mediocre ones
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  24. 4.0 |   The Observer

    The overall effect is unconvincing, like something spindly pumped on steroids
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  25. 4.0 |   PopMatters

    The sound of Death Cab at their most generic, disjointed, and disinterested
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  26. 4.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    Of the entire affair, the tad overwrought Arcade Fire tribute that is the title track is the only one to lay justifiable claim to future setlist real estate
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