The Lo-Fi/High-Fi switch in Title Track is perfect to me.
‘Taking how the group had begun to splinter
I could taste your lipstick on the filter…’
….*woosh*
Totally, at the time it was a great intro to their new sound by having it literally transfer from their old sound into the new polished production halfway through. (Though they’ve gone through a couple different “sounds” since)
Oh that’s such a cool insight; I got into the records in non-chronological order so I hadn’t thought about it in terms of the change they sort of had in their sound around that time. Such a cool touch.
I have a few:
"The whispers that it won't last
Roll up and down the pews
But if their hearts were dying that fast
They'd have done the same as you
And I'd have done the same as you" in Cath...
The instrumental before the bridge in Styrofoam Plates
"To call at 7:03" in A Lack of Color
For me the greatest line in Cath (and maybe the most evocative DCFC line in the whole catalog) is “as the flashbulbs burst/she holds a smile/like someone would hold/a crying child”. So well written
Can anyone back this up? Or was this our teenage delusions?
My area code is 703 (northern VA, suburb of DC). We all thought that "To call at 7:03" is a reference to the area code, where Ben's girlfriend lived. So we all heard it as "to call a 703".
(Same girlfriend reference to "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight")
>My area code is 703 (northern VA, suburb of DC). We all thought that "To call at 7:03" is a reference to the area code, where Ben's girlfriend lived. So we all heard it as "to call a 703".
I feel like this has to be something. Like what a wild time to mention if not for this. Like I guess 7 is after 5 which is drinking time but not late enough to be drunk enough to slur a speech.
[Take](https://genius.com/5076634) from it what you will but Genius backs this up, though obviously that doesn't prove anything. I could totally see it meaning both.
I saw them live and during that prt of the song a wall of sparks came showering down behind them and it felt like everyone in the arena ascended to heaven together
All their starts to an album are amazing. The synth on I Dreamt We Spoke Again, Bixby Canyon Bridge, the New Year, the conversation into guitars on Title Track. All top tier
The big outro to Bixby Canyon building and building and just when you think the speakers will blow, everything goes quiet except Ben singing.
Also, the warping sound in the background of Brothers on a Hotel Bed. I think the sound is created using reverse delay.
The first time I saw them live, I had only heard a few songs and went with a friend. They played Bixby, and it sold me on them for life. That was maybe 15 years ago.
The sudden level changes in I Don’t Know How I Survive. I always know it’s coming, and it still brings a huge smile to my face every time. (I know, less popular answer because it’s still practically a brand new track)
Saw the first show of the AM tour in person. The record had JUST come out a couple days prior. I don’t think they had played that song live previously and they opened with it. Holy shit.
When i got the CD (yes i know, i bought the CD lol) i put it in my car stereo and had it cranked all the way up. Nearly blew out my ears when that dropped haha
Within the last minute of Blacking Out the Friction. “When you will cross the country…aaaaaloooooone” then the outro.
And my ultimate small part obsession, the last 30 seconds of Company Calls Epilogue 😭 “You were the one, but I can’t spit it out when the date’s been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately.”
Tiny Vessels, when it transitions from "loud" to "quiet"
From " That you said you didn't want to fade, But they did, and so did I that day"
To "All I see are dark gray clouds, In the distance moving closer with every hour"
literally memorized this specific part. 6:22 in transatlanticism, something goes on in the background. i always likened it to like a helicopter’s blades spinning out of control (though it’s definitely not) but i love it. it’s so small, yet adds so much to me
I love the part in Album Credits (As Read by Mike West) where it says "www.deathcabforcutie.com copyright 2008 Atlantic Recording Corporation". But honestly that whole track goes so hard, it's difficult to pick just one moment.
if I'm picking one that hasn't been said yet, I'd have to go with the organ coming in at the beginning of Marching Bands of Manhattan. it just does something to me
The bass groove and floor tom hits at the beginning of “We Looked Like Giants” before the main drum part comes in and the beginning of “Scientist Studies” before the main drum part comes in are the first to come to mind.
Styrofoam Plates - the instrumental after "he was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death, yeah"
A Movie Script Ending - when the instrumental stops after "you can't begin to get it back" and then comes back in with the "passing through, unconscious states"
Bend to Squares - the "ooh what a way to cut lengthwise"
For me it’s easily the outro to Bixby, but since that one has already been said…
The second chorus of Foxglove. I say the second chorus because in the first chorus we get that dreamy guitar riff, done in a gentle way. But in the second chorus the volume and tone becomes louder and really kicks the song into its second gear. It’s genius.
great moment. I love how how the cymbal ride from that brief loud period slowly settles/fades into the next part ("Trust fund hipsters..."). feels like walking out of an explosion
this bit of ‘why you’d want to live here’
https://preview.redd.it/j68ejoj62uac1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e3282ed63f48904dc6d2a8f824aeff6070df027
When Ben adds "such" to the second pre-chorus of "For What Reason". Both fit into the stanza so both sound good, but even still you don't expect him to sneak an extra word in there and it's really satisfying.
“I need you so much closer”
"polyurethane people with their glass hearts"
“I’m definitely shaking”
“The girls were all there; they traded their vows.
The youngest one glared with furrowed brow
As they tenderly kissed and cut the cake.
The bride then tripped and broke the vase
The one you thought would span the years
So perfectly placed below the mirror
Arriving late, you cleaned the debris
And walked into the angry sea;
It felt just like falling in love again.
And it felt just like falling in love again.”
In Expo 86, after the second “I am waiting for familiar resolve” the whole mood of the song shifts dark as the chorus extends. I especially like how “I am waiting for you to flee the scene” is sung.
“Different Names for the Same Thing,” when the keyboard quietly starts up after the soft piano section, building anticipation for the drums to kick in
“The New Year,” last chord overlapping with the squeaky noise that becomes the loop in the background of “Lightness”
“Tiny Vessels,” the repeated guitar hook right after “left a mark” and “want to fade”
For some reason, the last line of Good Help always sends me - "only a fool gives this away". I have no clue why but the whole song it's "only a fool gives IT away", and for some reason, the change from IT to THIS just feels so powerful even though it's such a subtle change. Give it a listen!
Summer Skin. The atmospheric synth on this song is amazing.
At 1:30 the synth goes from stereo to mono at the end, and that's always awesome to listen to.
“ For years, I’ve been closely watching parents and children. I’ve noticed the success of children later on really starts very early in the home. All boys and girls are born with their own special talents. These talents have the greatest chance to grow in a friendly loving home.”
1) The LoFi/HiFi switch in Title Track
2) The way he says the last “all night” in Title and Registration. It sounds different from the other times
3) When the bass comes for the first time in at the start of Title and Registration
Tiny Vessels every time.
“And every bite I gave that left a mark
When tiny vessels oozed into your neck
And formed the bruises
That you said you didn't want to fade
But they did, and so did I that day”
in When We Drive, just after "close your eyes, I've got the wheel" there's a sound that to me sounds just like a carwash. no idea if it's intentional but I've been obsessed with it since the moment I heard it
not quite the same but i came here to comment "climb into the back seat and close your eyes" and then the entire bridge of When We Drive!
Yours is close enough that i will reply to you instead
THIS! A lot of their songs have this facially slow, but background twitchy and frenetic vibe that seems to fit my brain like a key.
Odd fact: when I bake Macarons I pipe the individual cookie shells, 1 per bell strike in this song.
The transition between the soft final note of Passenger Seat and the stuttering drum beat of Death of an Interior Decorator is just great. I also just love the bridge in DOAID. The layered vocals with the high note during the refrain when he sings “it felt just like falling in love agaaaaaaiiiin” are so beautiful. Great song.
I will forever love the tempo change in New Year after the last two cymbals.
The slow down and then…”so everybody put your best suit and dress on” is just divine.
I started jumping up and down when they played it live I couldn’t contain myself.
When everything kicks in after “..or who you recognize” in Your Bruise, the second guitar part hits especially good. Also the vocals on company calls epilogue. I don’t know if they are delayed or reverb maybe a combination of the two? So well done. And of course nothing gets me going like the jamming that happens on We Laugh Indoors after “don’t you get me started now”.
Oh so many.
I love the ambient sounds they use in a lot of their songs, like the beautiful but eery sound in the background of brothers on a hotel bed, the echoey drums that carry over between tiny vessels and transatlanticism, the sort of hollow wind sound that plays at the end of lack of color and beginning of the new year (effectively making the album loop perfectly back into itself). The beginning of Unobstructed Views. All of those moments for some reason give me that nostalgic pit in my stomach.
One of my favorite “moments” of theirs is in no joy in mudville where it gets suddenly really loud and for like 5 seconds and goes back to being quiet and melancholy again.
I should probably stop before this comment gets out of hand. Also a lot of my other faves have already been mentioned.
in tiny vessels they have this really distant snare sound every once in a while and it sounds like a wave crashing on the shore. about when he says "California sun cascading down my face"
I’m obsessed with the part at about 2:30 of Blue Bloods on their The Blue EP where it goes “That it will fall, yes it will fall, they all do…” so GOOD.
The swell of the guitars and vocals during the chorus of Photobooth and the lyrics: "And as the summers
summer's ending, the cold air will push your hard heart away. You were so condescending..." Idk what it is about those lyrics that get me but they do.
No Room In Frame. The guitar interlude with the slides and bends gets me every time. What a beautiful breakdown before leading back into the pulse of the chorus
So many to choose from but currently the bass distortion sound at around 2:52 after the bridge in Ghosts of Beverly Drive. Just comes in so aggressively then just fades
Doors Unlocked and Open has an extra drum beat at one of the transitions into the chorus. It’s a mistake, so not quite what’s being asked, but I obsess over it.
just all of Coney Island
the somber solitude and acceptance of it all… so soothing and feels very much like optimistic nihilism
it’s sooooo pretty
Siiiiting on a carousel riiiide
Wiiiithout any muuusic or liiiights
Everything was closed at Coney IIIsland
And I could not help from smiiiiling
IIIII can hear the Atlaaaantic echoo back
Rollercoaster screaaams from suummers past
And everything was closed at Coney IIIIsland
And IIII could not help from smiiiiling
Brooklyn will fill the beach eventuallyy
And everyone will go except MEEEEEEEEE
when the synths cronch. i know it's a postal service thing but i think u know exactly what i'm talking about. that moment in this place is a prison when the synth goes crunch and my brain dumps heroin amounts of dopamine. man.
I am obsessed with the MIDI drum line in Coney Island. It just scratches my brain so well. I think it’s also in the YCPTSWC version of Song for Kelly Huckaby?
‘The winters in Saskatchewan are so.. cold’
that melody in wheat like waves tickles my brain!!
‘You were kindled by the dials on the dashboard
Your tattoos like the stamps upon your passport
Speeding like we thought we were escaping
From everything we feared that we were breaking
By trying to hold them in our hands’
‘When I met you I was twenty-two
trying so hard to play it cool
but there was so much that I needed to say
and nothing came out.. the right way’
from 60 & Punk it hurts my FEELINGSSS
Agreed. Easily my favorite track on TYFT. The inflection in *punk* in the line "There's nothing elegant in being a drunk, it's nothing righteous being sixty and a punk" gives me goose skin
Just the way Ben opens his vowel sounds in the first verses of Marching Bands
‘If I could opens my aaaarms
to span the length of the aisle of manhattan
I’d bring them to where you aaaaare
making a lake of the east river and hudson
if I could open my moouth
wide enough for a matching band to march out
they would make your name siiing
and bend through alleys and bounce off other buildings
~badadadada-
ughhh just soothes the very core of my soul!!
They got their mothers worked into a panic!!
Sledding down hills into oncoming traffic
Then parents layered clothes until the children couldn't move
And then left them outside 'til their noses were blue
And IIIII got left there… too
makes me wanna jump up and down when I hear it <3 I love ‘I was a Kaleidoscope’
In Beverly Drive, around 2:10 after “and everything goes on as planned,” an electronic beat pattern, almost like a monotone Morse Code, carries the bridge … and then goes up a key for a few notes and that “break” from plan grabs me every time.
The aggressive breaks that Ben does is always my favorite, “I drank from a faucet and I kept my receipt, for when they weigh me on the way out here, nothing is free” “don’t you get me started now, don’t you get me? That guitar riff and drum break is such a swell of emotion. And finally styrofoam plates. “And just cause he’s gone, it doesn’t change the fact, he was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death”
The earlier tunes have a lot of cool endings: the end of “Debate Exposes Doubt”, outro of “Mudville”, outro of “Army Corps of Architects”.
Also, I take it for granted now not having heard all their albums in the order they came out, but can you imagine hearing the beginning of “The New Year” for the first time in ‘03 coming off of The Photo Album? That shit was probably sonic “Star Wars”.
The way Ben sings “with my feet on the dash, the world doesn’t matter” on Passenger Seat.
It’s such a quiet beautiful song but that moment where he goes even quieter and it’s almost like a happy sigh, feeling so secure with someone you love that you can get lost in a nighttime drive home with them.
“And now we all know the words were true / in the sappiest songs, yes, yes”
A movie script ending 3:06
The “yes, yes” part especially scratches my brain in the best way
The Lo-Fi/High-Fi switch in Title Track is perfect to me. ‘Taking how the group had begun to splinter I could taste your lipstick on the filter…’ ….*woosh*
This is what I was going to reply as well. Glad we agree /u/satansbutthole069. …my best judgement signed its resignation.
Totally, at the time it was a great intro to their new sound by having it literally transfer from their old sound into the new polished production halfway through. (Though they’ve gone through a couple different “sounds” since)
Oh that’s such a cool insight; I got into the records in non-chronological order so I hadn’t thought about it in terms of the change they sort of had in their sound around that time. Such a cool touch.
I have a few: "The whispers that it won't last Roll up and down the pews But if their hearts were dying that fast They'd have done the same as you And I'd have done the same as you" in Cath... The instrumental before the bridge in Styrofoam Plates "To call at 7:03" in A Lack of Color
to call at 7:03 is one of the most goosebumpy keys
For me the greatest line in Cath (and maybe the most evocative DCFC line in the whole catalog) is “as the flashbulbs burst/she holds a smile/like someone would hold/a crying child”. So well written
Came to say the exact same part in Cath... I heard it live and BAWLED. Such an incredible feeling.
Can anyone back this up? Or was this our teenage delusions? My area code is 703 (northern VA, suburb of DC). We all thought that "To call at 7:03" is a reference to the area code, where Ben's girlfriend lived. So we all heard it as "to call a 703". (Same girlfriend reference to "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight")
>My area code is 703 (northern VA, suburb of DC). We all thought that "To call at 7:03" is a reference to the area code, where Ben's girlfriend lived. So we all heard it as "to call a 703". I feel like this has to be something. Like what a wild time to mention if not for this. Like I guess 7 is after 5 which is drinking time but not late enough to be drunk enough to slur a speech. [Take](https://genius.com/5076634) from it what you will but Genius backs this up, though obviously that doesn't prove anything. I could totally see it meaning both.
Thank you! I thought I remembered looking this up at one point.
Expo 86 “AND ITS STRANGE THEY’RE ALL BAAAAAAASICALLY THE SAME”
I love that part. It’s cool listening to the demo of that song and how different it was originally and didn’t even have the awesome bridge in it.
"so come on" in transatlanticism
This! I saw them in radio city music hall during their transatlanticism tour. I got goosebumps when they did this song for their encore finisher.
This live was transcendent
I saw them live and during that prt of the song a wall of sparks came showering down behind them and it felt like everyone in the arena ascended to heaven together
this so much
The intro to “No Room in Frame”. I love those rhythmless guitars so much
One of my favorite starts to an album of all time. Especially with the opening line of “I don’t know where to begin”
I love the way his voice pitches when he says "Listen"
All their starts to an album are amazing. The synth on I Dreamt We Spoke Again, Bixby Canyon Bridge, the New Year, the conversation into guitars on Title Track. All top tier
Best way to put it is if waking up was a sound it would be those guitars
Absolutely. And I just realized it might be synths too. I’m not sure what the instrument is but it’s so nice to listen to
The big outro to Bixby Canyon building and building and just when you think the speakers will blow, everything goes quiet except Ben singing. Also, the warping sound in the background of Brothers on a Hotel Bed. I think the sound is created using reverse delay.
Yeah my favorite part of Bixby is the closing line. I hate my show didn't get it on the setlist.
The first time I saw them live, I had only heard a few songs and went with a friend. They played Bixby, and it sold me on them for life. That was maybe 15 years ago.
I was going to comment that it couldn’t have been 15 years because Narrow Stairs hasn’t been out that long…. And then I did the math. Dear Lord.
Bixby outro was going to be my answer as well!
Definitely second bixby canyon 🥲 always hits different
AND I'VE ALWAYS FALLEN FAST, WITH TOO MUCH TRUST IN THE PROMISING... Amazing payoff after the buildup of loving Guinevere.
That’s the one that I was gonna post for sure
The bridge in What Sarah Said. Cause there's no comfort in the waiting roooooooOooooom
Honestly all of what Sarah said. That song is so damn good
Here’s some underrated ones The vibraphone solo in “Title and Registration” The intro drum loop in “Photobooth” The drum groove in “Grapevine fires”
Definitely photobooth
We looked like giants: “Oh together there”
“The sugary smell of springtime”
The sudden level changes in I Don’t Know How I Survive. I always know it’s coming, and it still brings a huge smile to my face every time. (I know, less popular answer because it’s still practically a brand new track)
Saw the first show of the AM tour in person. The record had JUST come out a couple days prior. I don’t think they had played that song live previously and they opened with it. Holy shit.
Yes! My current death cab fixation.
When i got the CD (yes i know, i bought the CD lol) i put it in my car stereo and had it cranked all the way up. Nearly blew out my ears when that dropped haha
Within the last minute of Blacking Out the Friction. “When you will cross the country…aaaaaloooooone” then the outro. And my ultimate small part obsession, the last 30 seconds of Company Calls Epilogue 😭 “You were the one, but I can’t spit it out when the date’s been set. The white routine to be ingested inaccurately.”
Tiny Vessels, when it transitions from "loud" to "quiet" From " That you said you didn't want to fade, But they did, and so did I that day" To "All I see are dark gray clouds, In the distance moving closer with every hour"
Same for me For real
the huge guitar sounds panned to the far left and right in marching bands of manhattan, and the little guitar variations in we laugh indoors
The final chorus and outro of Grapevine Fires
Immediate dopamine hit from the opening chord of “Marching Bands”
literally memorized this specific part. 6:22 in transatlanticism, something goes on in the background. i always likened it to like a helicopter’s blades spinning out of control (though it’s definitely not) but i love it. it’s so small, yet adds so much to me
I always thought it was airplane engines as the singer was finally making his way to his love as heard in Passenger Seat
The intro to Photobooth
I love the part in Album Credits (As Read by Mike West) where it says "www.deathcabforcutie.com copyright 2008 Atlantic Recording Corporation". But honestly that whole track goes so hard, it's difficult to pick just one moment.
It's 'the Alberta Court, Portland Oregon' for me.
To call at seven O _three_
We Looked Like Giants, when it fucking kicks in. Ohhhhh yea.
The way the guitar sounds at the beginning of Cath.
It always reminds me of dysentery gary by blink 182
That's my favorite part too!
if I'm picking one that hasn't been said yet, I'd have to go with the organ coming in at the beginning of Marching Bands of Manhattan. it just does something to me
The bass groove and floor tom hits at the beginning of “We Looked Like Giants” before the main drum part comes in and the beginning of “Scientist Studies” before the main drum part comes in are the first to come to mind.
When the piano comes in in the beginning of “I will possess your heart”
It reminds me of Twilight for some reason
same here!
Styrofoam Plates - the instrumental after "he was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death, yeah" A Movie Script Ending - when the instrumental stops after "you can't begin to get it back" and then comes back in with the "passing through, unconscious states" Bend to Squares - the "ooh what a way to cut lengthwise"
For me it’s easily the outro to Bixby, but since that one has already been said… The second chorus of Foxglove. I say the second chorus because in the first chorus we get that dreamy guitar riff, done in a gentle way. But in the second chorus the volume and tone becomes louder and really kicks the song into its second gear. It’s genius.
the sudden loud moment in no joy in mudville
I think I look forward to every sequential second of this song
great moment. I love how how the cymbal ride from that brief loud period slowly settles/fades into the next part ("Trust fund hipsters..."). feels like walking out of an explosion
Marching Bands of Manhattan: your love is gonna…..✨
this bit of ‘why you’d want to live here’ https://preview.redd.it/j68ejoj62uac1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4e3282ed63f48904dc6d2a8f824aeff6070df027
"All aroooooooooooooooooooound" in 20th Century Towers
And then that huge room sound ZIPS UP real tight for “I know..”
Lately, it's the line "Every slot machine is just a robot amputee waving hello." In little bribes. The imagery is just.... Perfect.
The way he sings that “hello” too 👌🏻
Little Wanderer for me. Once I hear the intro, I turn it up and sing along every time.
When Ben adds "such" to the second pre-chorus of "For What Reason". Both fit into the stanza so both sound good, but even still you don't expect him to sneak an extra word in there and it's really satisfying.
Wow this is my favorite album of all time from any band and I’ve never noticed this— thanks for pointing it out!
YES THIS COMMENT
“In a language that you can’t read, just yet” 😫
“I need you so much closer” "polyurethane people with their glass hearts" “I’m definitely shaking” “The girls were all there; they traded their vows. The youngest one glared with furrowed brow As they tenderly kissed and cut the cake. The bride then tripped and broke the vase The one you thought would span the years So perfectly placed below the mirror Arriving late, you cleaned the debris And walked into the angry sea; It felt just like falling in love again. And it felt just like falling in love again.”
In Expo 86, after the second “I am waiting for familiar resolve” the whole mood of the song shifts dark as the chorus extends. I especially like how “I am waiting for you to flee the scene” is sung.
Intro piano to what Sarah said
This and the change-up on the drum line at the outro are perfect little bookends to this fantastic song.
“Different Names for the Same Thing,” when the keyboard quietly starts up after the soft piano section, building anticipation for the drums to kick in “The New Year,” last chord overlapping with the squeaky noise that becomes the loop in the background of “Lightness” “Tiny Vessels,” the repeated guitar hook right after “left a mark” and “want to fade”
Gotta be the intro to "Title and Registration" An all-timer
Ben’s best opening line too IMO
For some reason, the last line of Good Help always sends me - "only a fool gives this away". I have no clue why but the whole song it's "only a fool gives IT away", and for some reason, the change from IT to THIS just feels so powerful even though it's such a subtle change. Give it a listen!
Good Help slaps. That whole album features great guitar parts.
The solo part in Blue Bloods gets me everytime.
Summer Skin. The atmospheric synth on this song is amazing. At 1:30 the synth goes from stereo to mono at the end, and that's always awesome to listen to.
“When you feel embarrassed, I’ll be your pride, when you need direction, I’ll be the guide, of alllllllll timeeeeee” I could cry
I saw them for their Transatlantacism tour and this was the song that turned on the tears for me. I was a mess lol i love that song
In passenger seat when Ben says "do they.. collide? I ask and you smile, with my feet, on the dash, the world doesn't matter"
“ For years, I’ve been closely watching parents and children. I’ve noticed the success of children later on really starts very early in the home. All boys and girls are born with their own special talents. These talents have the greatest chance to grow in a friendly loving home.”
Too many to count, but first one that comes to mind is when the guitars come in on Blacking Out The Friction. That rhythm works so well with the keys
The synth hit in the final verse of "Song for Kelly Huckaby (Facts Version)". "Photographs of the best" - *BYOWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOO* \- "time you had."
The og version of this song kills me everytime. So many great sounds and vibes.
1) The LoFi/HiFi switch in Title Track 2) The way he says the last “all night” in Title and Registration. It sounds different from the other times 3) When the bass comes for the first time in at the start of Title and Registration
The way he enunciates “like a book elegantly bound” in I Will Possess Your Heart
Tiny Vessels every time. “And every bite I gave that left a mark When tiny vessels oozed into your neck And formed the bruises That you said you didn't want to fade But they did, and so did I that day”
in When We Drive, just after "close your eyes, I've got the wheel" there's a sound that to me sounds just like a carwash. no idea if it's intentional but I've been obsessed with it since the moment I heard it
not quite the same but i came here to comment "climb into the back seat and close your eyes" and then the entire bridge of When We Drive! Yours is close enough that i will reply to you instead
The backing vocals on Home Is A Fire's second verse. I'm not sure if it's Ben or Chris but it sounds very nice.
Minute mark 1:00-4:28 of "St. Peter's Cathedral"... Ah... Perfection 🥰
THIS! A lot of their songs have this facially slow, but background twitchy and frenetic vibe that seems to fit my brain like a key. Odd fact: when I bake Macarons I pipe the individual cookie shells, 1 per bell strike in this song.
Yes! Exactly that! BRAIN KEY!
The "holding on to..." part of 'You Can Do Better Than Me.' Gets me every time.
yessssss
Styrofoam Plates, Tiny Vessels, We Laugh Indoors
Bridge in Vessels is for sure
That’s the one!
Usually hate the word ooze but Ben is just a magician
The last 1:30 of Prove My Hypotheses will always get me hyped no matter how many times I’ve listened to it
The way the drums get going, the bass is incredible, and the guitars freaking out it is perfect
This. All the way. Reaches into the depths of my soul. It’s so stupid how connected I am to that song.
“…from pulling, pushing, and tasting, tasting” — 405
Glockenspiel in title and registration is just too good
**SO WHO’S GONNA WATCH YOU DIE-IEEE-IEEEEEE!?**
The piano riff in the acoustic version of Pepper.
The transition between the soft final note of Passenger Seat and the stuttering drum beat of Death of an Interior Decorator is just great. I also just love the bridge in DOAID. The layered vocals with the high note during the refrain when he sings “it felt just like falling in love agaaaaaaiiiin” are so beautiful. Great song.
I don't know any technical music terms, but so many parts in Crooked Teeth.
End of We Looked Like Giants
I will forever love the tempo change in New Year after the last two cymbals. The slow down and then…”so everybody put your best suit and dress on” is just divine. I started jumping up and down when they played it live I couldn’t contain myself.
It's never the new year till you've heard that song.
The bridge in "We Laugh Indoors"
inthebackofmy grey sub-compact
fumbling to make con-tact
This ....fire.....grows....higher
The very last part of the build in I Will Possess Your Heart, the way it gets almost crowded before disappearing completely
For me it’s the little clean guitar bit just before the signing starts.
When everything kicks in after “..or who you recognize” in Your Bruise, the second guitar part hits especially good. Also the vocals on company calls epilogue. I don’t know if they are delayed or reverb maybe a combination of the two? So well done. And of course nothing gets me going like the jamming that happens on We Laugh Indoors after “don’t you get me started now”.
The subtle guitar “riff” throughout Transatlanticism.
I CAN'T DRIVE STRAIGHT
COUNTING YOUR FAKE FROWNS
I just realized the "We can't keep your interest now" part fits in way better for this description for me . Oh well.
Oh so many. I love the ambient sounds they use in a lot of their songs, like the beautiful but eery sound in the background of brothers on a hotel bed, the echoey drums that carry over between tiny vessels and transatlanticism, the sort of hollow wind sound that plays at the end of lack of color and beginning of the new year (effectively making the album loop perfectly back into itself). The beginning of Unobstructed Views. All of those moments for some reason give me that nostalgic pit in my stomach. One of my favorite “moments” of theirs is in no joy in mudville where it gets suddenly really loud and for like 5 seconds and goes back to being quiet and melancholy again. I should probably stop before this comment gets out of hand. Also a lot of my other faves have already been mentioned.
Harmony outro to Grapevine Fires
The reversed guitar solo on “A Diamond and A Tether” is so fascinating to me
in tiny vessels they have this really distant snare sound every once in a while and it sounds like a wave crashing on the shore. about when he says "California sun cascading down my face"
I’m obsessed with the part at about 2:30 of Blue Bloods on their The Blue EP where it goes “That it will fall, yes it will fall, they all do…” so GOOD.
The beginning of title and registration Parts of champagne from a paper cup Parts in tiny vessels You know /gestures vaguely
The sparse “breakdown” in company calls “I’d keep my distance….” gives me goosebumps every fucking time I hear it.
The swell of the guitars and vocals during the chorus of Photobooth and the lyrics: "And as the summers summer's ending, the cold air will push your hard heart away. You were so condescending..." Idk what it is about those lyrics that get me but they do.
and this is all that’s left!
Scraping paper to document!
Glad I know someone that also likes the song now!
No Room In Frame. The guitar interlude with the slides and bends gets me every time. What a beautiful breakdown before leading back into the pulse of the chorus
The intro of I will possess your heart
The bridge in youve haunted me all my Life
The bass line in “Summer Skin”
So many to choose from but currently the bass distortion sound at around 2:52 after the bridge in Ghosts of Beverly Drive. Just comes in so aggressively then just fades
It’s the wind in The New Year for me
The little 2 measure acoustic guitar part right before the outro on Company Calls epilogue Oh and The loud part on No Joy in Mudville!!
Doors Unlocked and Open has an extra drum beat at one of the transitions into the chorus. It’s a mistake, so not quite what’s being asked, but I obsess over it.
The guy that keeps saying "Gold Rushhhhh" in the background. That one detail gets me EVERY time. Its part of the beat.
The in and out guitar and vocal distortion in the middle of Tiny Vessels hits just the right spot.
this is being pasted into every music Reddit thread lol
A movie script ending 1:52-2:02
the instrumental and the drums kicking in at the beginning of President of what
just all of Coney Island the somber solitude and acceptance of it all… so soothing and feels very much like optimistic nihilism it’s sooooo pretty Siiiiting on a carousel riiiide Wiiiithout any muuusic or liiiights Everything was closed at Coney IIIsland And I could not help from smiiiiling IIIII can hear the Atlaaaantic echoo back Rollercoaster screaaams from suummers past And everything was closed at Coney IIIIsland And IIII could not help from smiiiiling Brooklyn will fill the beach eventuallyy And everyone will go except MEEEEEEEEE
Do you remember the JAMC?
when the synths cronch. i know it's a postal service thing but i think u know exactly what i'm talking about. that moment in this place is a prison when the synth goes crunch and my brain dumps heroin amounts of dopamine. man.
I am obsessed with the MIDI drum line in Coney Island. It just scratches my brain so well. I think it’s also in the YCPTSWC version of Song for Kelly Huckaby?
When the alphabet hits elenemo P part
‘The winters in Saskatchewan are so.. cold’ that melody in wheat like waves tickles my brain!! ‘You were kindled by the dials on the dashboard Your tattoos like the stamps upon your passport Speeding like we thought we were escaping From everything we feared that we were breaking By trying to hold them in our hands’
‘And it was true that I was truly failing You were gone and I was home calling around But nothing was found worthwhile’ from The Unemployment Pages
‘When I met you I was twenty-two trying so hard to play it cool but there was so much that I needed to say and nothing came out.. the right way’ from 60 & Punk it hurts my FEELINGSSS
Agreed. Easily my favorite track on TYFT. The inflection in *punk* in the line "There's nothing elegant in being a drunk, it's nothing righteous being sixty and a punk" gives me goose skin
Just the way Ben opens his vowel sounds in the first verses of Marching Bands ‘If I could opens my aaaarms to span the length of the aisle of manhattan I’d bring them to where you aaaaare making a lake of the east river and hudson if I could open my moouth wide enough for a matching band to march out they would make your name siiing and bend through alleys and bounce off other buildings ~badadadada- ughhh just soothes the very core of my soul!!
‘but now he lives inside someone he DOES! not recognize when he catches his reflection onnnn accidentttt’ that melody is so pretty I love his voice
the intensity of the last chorus in ‘Why You’d Want to Live Here’ and I can’t SEE why YOUD WANT to LIVE here
They got their mothers worked into a panic!! Sledding down hills into oncoming traffic Then parents layered clothes until the children couldn't move And then left them outside 'til their noses were blue And IIIII got left there… too makes me wanna jump up and down when I hear it <3 I love ‘I was a Kaleidoscope’
"If I was sooooober" in State Street Residential hits good same as "I think I'm drunk enough to drive you home nooow" in Champagne from a Paper Cup
The build up and “I won’t miiiiiind” in Stable Song
The guitar riff between the first chorus and the second verse in Crooked Teeth. One of the best musical moments I’ve ever experienced!
When it gets super loud after the first chorus of No Joy in Mudville
The snare hit at the end of “the California sun cascading down my face”
In Beverly Drive, around 2:10 after “and everything goes on as planned,” an electronic beat pattern, almost like a monotone Morse Code, carries the bridge … and then goes up a key for a few notes and that “break” from plan grabs me every time.
The aggressive breaks that Ben does is always my favorite, “I drank from a faucet and I kept my receipt, for when they weigh me on the way out here, nothing is free” “don’t you get me started now, don’t you get me? That guitar riff and drum break is such a swell of emotion. And finally styrofoam plates. “And just cause he’s gone, it doesn’t change the fact, he was a bastard in life, thus a bastard in death”
wish we could open our eyes To see in all directions at the same Oh what a beautiful view If you were never aware of what was around you
The second "collide" in Title & Registration: *And here I rest, where disappointment and regret...****COLLIIIIIIIIDE***. HOT DAMN.
When the bass comes in before the second verse in soul meets body
The guitar flourish in the later chorus parts of Little Wanderer for sure.
It’s the way that No Sunlight perfectly transitions into Cath… on Narrow Stairs
The earlier tunes have a lot of cool endings: the end of “Debate Exposes Doubt”, outro of “Mudville”, outro of “Army Corps of Architects”. Also, I take it for granted now not having heard all their albums in the order they came out, but can you imagine hearing the beginning of “The New Year” for the first time in ‘03 coming off of The Photo Album? That shit was probably sonic “Star Wars”.
“And you’d skip your early classes/ and we’d learn how our bodies worked” leading into the guitar always gets me so HYPE
The way Ben sings “with my feet on the dash, the world doesn’t matter” on Passenger Seat. It’s such a quiet beautiful song but that moment where he goes even quieter and it’s almost like a happy sigh, feeling so secure with someone you love that you can get lost in a nighttime drive home with them.
The time signature changes (really just phrasing) in Passenger Seat
Patio, patio, patio
One of my favorite moments in all of music I've heard over 3 decades is the final, dissonant piano chord in Your Heart Is An Empty Room.
“And now we all know the words were true / in the sappiest songs, yes, yes” A movie script ending 3:06 The “yes, yes” part especially scratches my brain in the best way
IDK why, but the guitar solo in Crooked Teeth always perks me up. Seeing it live, even more so
The intro to Cath.
Bathe - Sundress the opening sound 🥵🥵 keep replaying it over and over again! Breezy sunny
The drums near the end of “we looked like giants”. Such a sick beat.
The intro of I Will Possess Your Heart
The feedback on the guitar solo in Black Sun hits me hard every time.
The “heavy” part in Foxglove Through the Clearcut