2. The Photo Album (2001)

One of the things that makes Death Cab so great is their ability to express something via a sound that has nothing to do with the emotion it’s conveying. We call it a pathetic fallacy when things just can’t get any worse and someone chimes in, “Well, at least it’s not raining,” but then the clouds part and all downtrodden parties are left soaking wet. The Photo Album has many instances that are so anti-pathetic fallacy, it’s a wonder if casual listeners even know that “Why You’d Want To Live Here” is actually one of the most vitriolic anti-L.A. anthems, even as it sonically personifies the place it ultimately tears down — “The Only Place” it is not. “Styrofoam Plates” is a song about telling off your dad that deals in no angry musical tropes, yet at the same time, its nonchalance is the perfect embodiment of refusing to show it hurts. “We Laugh Indoors,” arguably the best song on this album, manages to be thick and empty at the same time. And while that is precisely how one feels while kicking trash on the sidewalk over unrequited love, its urgency is transcendent. This was the first real indication that the band was going to toy with their signature sound, and while some of it meanders (“Information Travels Faster”), it’s a marathon-runner — satisfyingly Death Cab while still ahead of its time.