By By Taylor Long

Some bands today get a Cinderella story: a glass slipper of a record contract handed to them after an album or two. Other bands might get that fairytale contract, they just have to work a bit harder and longer for it. Seattle’s Death Cab For Cutie falls into the latter category. Plans is ­Death Cab For Cutie’s fifth full-length and their first after signing a contract with Atlantic. But now that they’ve got that glass slipper, do they fit into it?

Plans basically picks up where Transatlanticism left off. Beautiful piano-based melodies still form the core of the sound. For the most part, any of the tracks would be at home on that breakout record.

If distance is the underlying theme to Transatlanticism, the theme to Plans is a connection between love and death. “I Will Follow You Into The Dark” is one of the more depressing songs, as front-man Ben Gibbard faithfully declares that when his love dies, he will follow her. Later, in “What Sarah Said,” Gibbard claims that “love is watching someone die,” then asks, “who’s going to watch you die?”

Surprisingly, the best example of growth for the group is heard in the single, “Soul Meets Body.” A pure, lush pop song, it comes off as though they’re covering an ’80s tune-but it works. “Different Names For The Same Thing” also shows new direction, starting off subtly and slowly on a piano, before shifting into a Postal Service-inspired electro ditty.

Other notable tracks include “Stable Song,” a revamped version of “Stability” from Stability EP and “Summer Skin,” with its steady drums and simple melody.

Death Cab For Cutie doesn’t necessarily fit into the glass slipper of a major label-as evidenced by Plans, they instead make it fit around them. Hopefully this dedication to their own style will make them the first Death Cab For Cutie and not a second Coldplay or Keane.

“Plans,” Death Cab For Cutie

“Plans,” Death Cab For Cutie