Death Cab released an album back in September, so it’s time for another Jason McGerr groove lesson. 

For this LP, I was torn between today’s song and track 4, “Randy McNally”. I suspected I was going to the latter, which features verses in 7/8 time. Much like the Coldplay songs I talked about back in the summer, the 7/8 is tough to notice right away, which always fascinates me. But today, we’re talking about “Fragments From the Decade”.

The groove for this track is built with offbeat triplets. It sounds busier than it is, thanks to the playing from the rest of the band. Ending the measure with a triple stroke on the snare is a bold move for a pop song if I do say so myself. 

The focus of the transcription starts at 2:55 in the tune. Check out some cool ad–libbing from Jason during an instrumental section starting at 2:15. 

Download PDF.

“Fragments From the Decade” on Songwhip.