Music Review: Death Cab For Cutie take dramatic leap

Making the jump from an indie label to a major one can spell disaster, and many a fan heralded the demise of Death Cab For Cutie after their unfairly criticized Atlantic debut, 2005's "Plans."

Again boasting slick production and a new direction for their sound, Death Cab's follow-up, "Narrow Stairs," will shatter any expectations about this band -- and here it's a compliment.

Typically grounded in warm and bright flavors, Death Cab have widened their scope dramatically on "Narrow Stairs," with synth providing dark tones and biting atmosphere -- the disc floats and echoes.

Death Cab still cover the same heartfelt territory -- love and happiness, rejection and regret -- just with a lot more aplomb.

Disc opener "Bixby Canyon Bridge" provides a jolt, with a soft intro and frontman Ben Gibbard's emotive vocals lulling you in before a hard riff hits you over the head.

Impressive lead single "I Will Possess Your Heart" boasts an ambitious intro -- maybe too much so -- propelled by bass and piano before Gibbard flashes his typical eloquence: "How I wish you could see the potential/The potential of you and me/It's like a book elegantly bound/But in a language you can't read just yet."

The disc is nicely balanced between driving rock -- the poppy "No Sunlight," anthemic "Cath," and joyous retro vibe of "Long Division" and "Pity and Fear" -- and moody mid-tempo ballads -- a poetic "Grapevine Fires" and the self-deprecating oddity of "You Can Do Better Than Me."

"Narrow Stairs" is a knockout, and will make you throw out everything you've come to know about Death Cab For Cutie.

CHECK THIS TRACK OUT: Equally sad and romantic, "Your New Twin Sized Bed" is a sweet lament to heartbreak, and Gibbard's longing vocal will touch anyone who's spent a rainy day crying in bed.