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Aug 17, 2018Another fine stop in Death Cab’s ongoing evolution.
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Aug 17, 2018It’s not that it sounds like 80s adult rock, but there’s something of artists like Bruce Hornsby and the Range here--something welcoming and accepting that feels awfully appealing.
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Aug 17, 2018Thank You for Today marks the stirring opening of a new chapter in this band’s already storied history.
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Aug 17, 2018You have Gibbard’s forlorn yet criticising voice, the personal yet accessible lyrics, the melodic yet clashing guitars, which all create an incredibly atmospheric record, brimming with nostalgia, defeat--and hope.
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Aug 16, 2018A benchmark DCFC record and, barring a surprise drop from The National, the most immersive alt-rock album you’ll hear all year.
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Q MagazineAug 10, 2018Beautifully low-key, gently life-affirming. [Sep 2018, p.110]
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Aug 22, 2018Death Cab For Cutie aren’t changing any time soon, and Thank You For Today is another reliable if unsurprising missive from a band who seem to be settling into middle age comfortably.
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Aug 17, 2018Thank You shows that as long as Gibbard feels haunted about one thing or another, he and his bandmates should be able to conjure up an appropriate soundtrack.
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Aug 17, 2018This results in an album where the melancholy is bittersweet, not all consuming, which means Thank You For Today is softly reassuring even when its intent is lightly barbed.
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UncutAug 16, 2018Thanks You For Today marks a further shift towards an ultra-plush, synth-laden soft-rock sound. [Oct 2018, p.27]
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Aug 15, 2018Here, DCFC cut loose a bit and it's water they're better off swimming in my opinion. Hopefully, there's more energy moving forward but all in all, Thank You for Today is a record we should be thankful has blossomed into existence, especially on the heels of how relatable it can be.
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Aug 10, 2018Ultimately, Thank You for Today finds the Death Cab for Cutie of 2018 taking stock of their band, choosing to forge ahead by using the foundation of their back catalogue to harness their core identity and build upon it. The band's shared vision is clear, encapsulated in this collection of songs.
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Aug 10, 2018While it, like its three predecessors, fails to reach the near-perfect heights of the group's mid-2000 benchmarks--or even offer material to match later gems like "Stay Young, Go Dancing", "Grapevine Fires", "Unobstructed Views", and "No Room in Frame"--it's still a thoroughly charming and touching collection.
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Aug 17, 2018“Summer Years” is the band’s earnest indie-rock sound distilled to its purest essence, and “When We Drive” is an elegiac look at long-term relationships through the metaphor of a road trip--but there’s no “Doors Unlocked And Open” or “Ghosts Of Beverly Drive” to shake things up. It’s another solid Death Cab For Cutie album, but it lacks vitality.
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Aug 20, 2018Thank You For Today is uninspired but competent and honest, a laudable addendum to an unquantifiably meaningful legacy.
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Aug 20, 2018Whilst adhering to a pretty well-worn formula with the usual rousing emotion ebbs and flows, Gibbard’s ability to paint such vivid imagery with his carefully considered approach to lyricism does warrant revisiting, despite some moments proving patchy than others.
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Aug 20, 2018Thank You for Today isn’t as uniformly bland as Codes and Keys--if anything, it’s the strongest Death Cab album of the 2010s, a dubious achievement that nonetheless deserves recognition. But there’s moments that suggest Gibbard and the rest of Death Cab are still struggling through the beige malaise that has cast a pall over their more recent work
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Aug 17, 2018It’s a pairing that, on paper, makes sense, given that Depper’s talents with a synthesiser leave Thank You for Today feeling like a more polished version of 2011’s ‘Codes & Keys’. Yet the wide-eyed freshness of that new songwriting pairing leaves things feeling a little too shiny.
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Aug 14, 2018Nine albums in, Death Cab for Cutie are just about holding it together, but you have to wonder if the title Thank You For Today belies nothing more than a grateful acknowledgement of continued existence.
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MojoAug 10, 2018These songs are solid. [Sep 2018, p.90]
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Aug 17, 2018For a band once accustomed to emotional turbulence, Death Cab seems to have gone numb. They do occasionally attempt to surpass that newfound rut.
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Aug 23, 2018For the second record in a row, Death Cab for Cutie are treading water, splashing about in the faded sound of glories past.
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Aug 15, 2018Thank You for Today is Death Cab for Cutie’s weakest album of the decade and either a transition towards something greater or the first harbinger of creative decline.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 20 out of 29
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Mixed: 8 out of 29
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Negative: 1 out of 29
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Sep 6, 2018
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Aug 19, 2018
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Nov 6, 2018