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National Features >
Broward-Palm Beach New Times
The Agent from Iran
How a mother of two ended up in a plot to smuggle high-tech gear to the enemy.
By Deirdra Funcheon
Westword
Murder By Design
In life and death, tattoo artist Kauri Tiyme made her mark.
By Alan Prendergast
Village Voice
My Brother the Slumlord
Amy Neustein never could resist going public with her family dramas.
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Houston Press
The Ghosts of Galveston
A visit with the hurricane victims that a country forgot.
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Death Cab for Cutie
Narrow Stairs (Atlantic)
By Ben Westhoff
Published on May 14, 2008 at 11:13am
Narrow Stairs sounds just like Plans, right down to the obvious production, weepy lyrics and inoffensive guitar, continuing Death Cab's tradition of aping Morrissey lyrics without Moz's counterintuitive turns of phrase or dark jokes.
Songs like "Long Division" seem the product of some sort of indie-rock nerd-crafted lyric generator: "And he had sworn not to be what he'd been before/ To be the remainder." Get it? On the plus side, like all Death Cab albums, there are beautiful brides—such as on "I Will Possess Your Heart," although it comes seven minutes into the song—and thoughtful, simple tunes such as "No Sunlight." But in general, this album is the opposite of a surprise and quite close to caricature.
