They say rock 'n' roll is a young man's game, but indie faves Death Cab for Cutie don't mind showing their age.

And with the release of their latest disc Narrow Stairs -- a dark, edgy departure from their usual introspective fare -- the thirtysomething bandmates serve notice they're not interested in being lumped in with the rest of the perpetual adolescents.

"I really like that we're not a band that's still singing about getting stood up at the prom," says 33-year-old bassist Nick Harmer from the band's home town of Seattle. "We're a band that sings about the complexities of what happens when you're in a long-term relationship in your adult life.

"No slight to bands that like that (other) stuff, but at a certain point, it just doesn't sit well with me anymore. It just doesn't make sense."

Released in spring to great acclaim, the new disc finds Death Cab -- who were never the cheeriest bunch, but whose songs have always been buoyed by an underlying current of optimism -- delving deeper into the dark side with songs about death, despair and dead-end lives.

Lead single I Will Possess Your Heart starts off with several minutes of menacing guitar grooves, before giving way to a creepy stalker jam sung from the perspective of an obsessed suitor. Other tracks make reference to raging wildfires, unhappy weddings and the ghost of Jack Kerouac.

"I would say that's coming from some personal stuff in (frontman Ben Gibbard's) life," says Harmer. "That's one thing that I've always been really proud of him for, that he's really honest. The record isn't autobiographical in any sense, but the songs always start in a personal moment for him, and grow from that. As a lyricist, he allows himself to tackle these things that are happening in his life, and still allow them to be age-appropriate at the same time."

But Gibbard's lyrics weren't the only thing contributing to the album's visceral feel. The band also eschewed the latest recording technology (ie: anything that would allow them to fix their mistakes), opting instead for a spontaneous, fresh-off-the-floor vibe.

"We had just recorded (the 2005 disc) Plans in an all-digital format, so we wanted to get back to the limitations of the analog world," says Harmer. "The big one for us was just recording live, and trying to tap into that energy and that unnameable thing that happens when the four of us play music live together in a room."

The band's last trip to Winnipeg saw them sharing a stage with fop-rockers Franz Ferdinand, allowing the Cabbies -- Harmer, Gibbard, guitarist Chris Walla and drummer Jason McGerr -- to prove they were more muscular live than on tape.

"I've always been proud of that dichotomy," says Harmer. "There's this different kind of electricity to us in a live setting than our albums might suggest. I like the fact that while our albums are much more of a personal affair, and people usually listen to them with headphones on, we've always made our live shows an experience of community."

At MTS Centre tonight, they'll be opening for Neil Young, whom they met at one of his Bridge School benefits a few years back. Like Young, the Death Cab guys aren't big fans of the current U.S. administration, which helps explain their appearance at the Democratic National Convention in August, and their pledge to play a free show at the college that registers the most youth voters.

"That's certainly our big push as a band, to make sure the youth vote is mobilized and organized and is out there to stand up and be counted," he says. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I really hope it moves beyond bars and coffee shops, and into the polls."