Given the emotional weight and musical delights of Death Cab for Cutie's latest (and perhaps greatest) album, Crooked Teeth seems an oddly pedestrian choice for a single release. There are other, better songs on that album that surely deserved an individual outing.
Nevertheless Crooked Teeth is a well-crafted sliver of indie-pop that Seth Cohen and the thousands of new Death Cab converts will surely appreciate. Ben Gibbard's mountain fresh and Britta filtered voice reflects on the possible revival of a failed with typically dextrous lyrical flourishes. Musically, Crooked Teeth has Death Cab's trademark light and airy melodies, jangling guitar and which overall makes for an easy-listening experience - in a good way.
It is everything you'd expect from Death Cab and thus is predictably good, perhaps a little too predictable though - a mite safe. Small complaints really, but valid ones when Crooked Teeth is considered alongside the other material from Plans, and the b-side to this single, the previously unreleased (and rather brilliant) Talking Like Turnstyles.
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