No Joy in Wray Heights

Benjamin Gibbard made two interesting discoveries as he woke up yesterday.

First, the same zombies that had attacked him the previous day were in the new safehouse he had found. Notice on the transcript below, Rotten Old Al (the zombie that almost killed me the previous day) says "BANNAMAN GABBARH," assumably zombie speak for Benjamin Gibbard. Other zombies also say, "Ban Gabbarh," obviously shortened to Ben Gibbard. These jerks are out to get the hottest indie sweetheart in the world!

Second, two of my safehousemates had an in depth conversation about the direction of Death Cab. As requested by Gertrude, here is the conversation in full (less flares going off and timestamps):

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• Joe Cotton said "Hey Ben, can you guys make your next album more like Something About Airplanes?"
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "Dude, I kinda liked Plans. Maybe it suffered a bit thematically, but the songs were solid. Overall it's on par with Transatlanticism, I think. And hey, are we gonna get another Postal Service at some point? That'd be cool."
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Plans and Transatlanticism WERE both good discs, but I think the band is gradually going downhill. The songs may be more complex musically and emotionally, but Songs and We Have the Facts both have an earnestness about them that the newer material lacks."
  
  
• cromlich said "Hammmmbrrgaz!!"
  
  
• cromlich said "Hey guys! It's sort of chilly in here. Do you feel a draft? Did someone leave the door open?"
  
  
• Taika said "I swear, real estate values in this area have gone to pot ever since these new residents started showing up. And petty crimes like break-ins are through the roof."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "Yes, but how does earnestness outweigh musicianship? Bargain bins are full of bands which deserve to be forgotten, no matter how earnest they are. Good bands become great by learning complexity and using it well."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "You can't expect them to try and keep their music in some kind of stylistic suspended animation, never experimenting or trying for more subtlety or even just trying to NOT go over ground they've already mined the hell out of. Am I right, Ben?"
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "You know who would like music to stay the same? Zombies. They don't like change. All they want is a beat they can dance to and brains to eat, and god forbid you ever try showing them something new or innovative. They don't want that."
  
  
• Rotten Old Al said "BANNAMAN GABBARH, B hra ZAMBAH!"
  
  
• A zombie attacked you for 4 damage.
  
  
• The zombie's bite was infected! (You'll now take 1HP damage for every action you take, except speaking. Infection can be cured with a First Aid Kit.)
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Good call, Lewis. I'll agree that you shouldn't tread water. Ben and gang are doing that well. But complexity doesn't necessarily trump earnestness. Good music is good music."
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Bargain bins are also full of bands that--oh look, zombies---can play their instruments better than every other kid on the block, but still can't write songs. I agree than Ben and his pals do both well..but I dunno--I still find Plans sorta boring."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "Yeah, I'd agree with that. I'm just sayin' that I don't think DCFC's recent work really suffers in comparison to their earlier material."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "Plans doesn't have the thematic cohesiveness of their earlier albums, but its good songs are often GREAT, and its weakest tracks are (unlike some of their earliest missteps) still quite good."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "Huh, zombies. Well, let's ask THEM: hey zombies, d'you guys yearn for Death Cab for Cutie's older material, or are you pleased with their newest album?"
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "I don't think the band has a bad song at all, honestly. I just think their earlier material is more consistently good. The new stuff is *good*, but--to me--has a few lulls. A few songs that aren't bad enough to cut, but fill more like they're just *there*"
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "And by fill, I meant feel. Geez, I'm still not used to actually talkin' here-- I've been making moaning sounds for too long. Anywho--DCFC. I guess different strokes for...and all that."
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Why, that one zombie is dancing! Look at him go! He's got incredible floorwork moves, man...did you see how he moved from the 6-step into the moonwalk? Nice."
  
  
• Rotten Old Al said "Ban Gabbarh ahz ahzahm! Ah grab ANAH Ban Gabbarh! Mmm mmm!"
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "See, I don't know that I'd agree with that. Their older material has a few--ow! son of a bitch, I just got bitten--a few songs which were just ponderous and mopey and too similar to other songs of theirs. I find their new penchant for variety refreshing."
  
  
• Lewis Skinner said "They've always been able to just NAIL great songs on every album; what they're doing better these days is making those songs unique. Me, I dig it, a lot. ...and daaamn, that zed really can dance, can't he? It's like watchin' a music video or something."
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Very good point. I can really see what you're saying, especially in regards to We Have the Facts. I still think Something... is their best disc (and probably always will), but they really did start making every track unique from the Photo Album on."
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Even though they recycled a tune from the Stability EP for the new album (tee hee!)"
  
  
• Necroto said "Rh ra!"
  
  
• Zombeef said "Ba Ba Ba, Ba Ba Baran! Ah-ahhhhhh, ahh-aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
  
  
• Gutrot said "Bananarama!"
  
  
• Zombeef said "Argh! Bananarama? Man."
  
  
• Zombeef said "Hambargarh! Hambargarh! Garh! Argh! Ha ha ha! Garh!"
  
  
• Chris Retnam said "My brethren, let me help you!"
  
  
• Spleeneater said "Haha babba!! zaanaarh"
• 
  
• Zombeef said "Zanababa! Banarang! Ha Ha Ha! Man ga Argh! Man ga Argh! Ha ha ha! Ba ba ab, ba ba baran!"
  
  
• Joe Cotton said "Hey, is that one singing? That's pretty-ow!---pretty cool."
  
  
• Clint Stompheader said "Hhhhhhhraah arrh ha? Ha ha, ha ha!"