It’s been two years since indie favorite Death Cab for Cutie released its album Transatlanticism. Since then, the four-piece from Bellingham, Wash., has followed in the footsteps of Modest Mouse, making the leap to major record label Atlantic.

Unfortunately, Modest Mouse’s success with the label is not necessarily reflected in Death Cab’s Plans, the band’s first major attempt at Atlantic. For those seeking the quality melancholy of lead singer Ben Gibbard, there’s plenty to go around. However, Plans makes few attempts to reach for new heights the way Transatlanticism did.

The 11-track album starts out strong in the first eight tracks, taking a boring dive soon after. After track eight, some of Gibbard’s lyrics seem to lose their punch, while others feel more dumbed-down than previous Death Cab albums.

Still, the album gets a strong start with “Marching Bands of Manhattan” and “Soul Meets Body.” Though it lacks the powerful stir of Transatlanticism‘s “The New Year,” “Marching Bands” fits well as a leading song with a somewhat eerie and emotional repetition of lines like, “Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole / Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound / But while you debate half empty or half full / It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown.”

While “Marching Bands” is less optimistic, the group’s first single, “Soul Meets Body,” is an attempt to exploit some of Gibbard’s success with side project Postal Service. There’s no doubt “Soul Meets Body” is a pop song, and there’s no doubt Gibbard has learned something from fellow Postal Servicer Jimmy Tamborello (whose digital work helped push Postal Service out onto the public square). Still, the chorus lyrics of “Soul Meets Body” seem ridiculously corny: “I do believe it’s true / That there are holes left in both of our shoes / If the silence takes you / Then I hope it takes me too / So powerless I hold you near / ‘Cause you’re the only song I want to hear / A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.” Then again, Death Cab has been often praised for such lyrics.

What could potentially be Death Cab’s second single from Plans, “Someday You Will Be Loved,” can be interpreted as Gibbard being either hopeful or arrogant — it’s hard to tell. The song starts off with the singer belting out the story of how he once left his lover: “I once knew a girl / In the years of my youth / With eyes like the summer / All beauty and truth / In the morning I fled / Left a note and it read / Someday you will be loved.” It is unclear whether Gibbard realized the song would come off as him being both a jerk and the butt-end of someone’s gossip circle. Gibbard recounts, “I cannot pretend that I felt any regret / ‘Cause each broken heart will eventually mend / As the blood runs red down the needle and thread / Someday you will be loved.”

Also on the album is “I Will Follow You into the Dark,” a Gibbard acoustic track. This is a welcome change, as acoustic sounds have, for the most part, been absent from Death Cab albums, though Gibbard’s initial solo work under the name All-Time Quarterback was primarily acoustic. It’s good to see Gibbard return to his simpler habits, offering a quiet break from high-energy songs like “Soul Meets Body” and “Crooked Teeth.”

What’s amazing about the new Death Cab album is its sharp variety of songs, showcased best in the album’s first eight tracks. The classic Death Cab song like “Marching Bands” is juxtaposed with electronica-indie songs like “Soul Meets Body,” while soft acoustic ballads like “I Will Follow You into the Dark” are positioned between Gibbard nailing waves of longing in “Your Heart Is An Empty Room” and more repetitive arrangements, like “Different Names for the Same Thing.”

Listeners may not be as pleased as they were with 2003’s Transatlanticism, but they will find Gibbard and Co.’s latest work yet another step in a long line of successful work.

Grade: AB