Death Cab for Cutie
We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes; The Forbidden Love EP
(Barsuk)
Death Cab were my most pleasant discovery of last year. They’re back for a return visit in 2000
and will probably land in my year-end top 10 yet again. We Have the Facts... was released
this past spring and the band has a new accompanying EP out that is well worth finding. The
full-length abounds in catchy tunes that are a bit less over-winding than those that appeared on
last year’s Something about Airplanes. In other words, the vestiges of Built to Spill are
totally stripped away to the added benefit of the songs. Ben Gibbard’s voice is inviting and his
lyrics make you listen closer to the stories he’s telling -- usually about my favorites: love and
loss. The seductively simple circular chord progression of "405" mirrors the narrator’s
aimlessness of driving drunk on a circumferential interstate pondering the lost "you." All of a
sudden, it’s not so simple anymore.
The album’s linchpin is the back-to-back diptych "Company Calls" and "Company Calls Epilogue." Employing overused business buzzwords to define a relationship ("let’s cut our losses at both ends"), the setting is the emotional poverty a paycheck is really worth since we all know what money can’t buy. In the epilogue, the narrator receives an invitation to an ex’s wedding and looks forward to getting "dressed up for free drinks and family greetings." One trip to the complimentary bar leads to many and all of sudden he’s "crashing through parlor doors" demanding to know how the bride feels before launching into a too-late admission: "You were the one, but I can’t spit it out when the date’s been set." A stunner.
The EP collects three new songs, including the winning "Photobooth" about a summer affair, as well as an acoustic version of "405" and an alternate take on "Company Calls Epilogue." Well worth the extra splurge.
Ratings: We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes -- 8; Forbidden Love EP -- 8.
Something About Airplanes
(Barsuk/Elsinore)
Pay no attention to the ridiculous name,
this is a gem of an album. A co-release from the microscopic labels Barsuk and Elsinor (from
Seattle and Bellingham, WA, respectively), Something about Airplanes is a must for those
intoxicated by Built to Spill. Long, winding guitar-driven tracks with sardonic lyrics to match.
A song title like "Champagne from a Paper Cup" gives you the idea of where songwriter
Benjamin Gibbard is coming from. Gibbard seems to be cut from the same intellectual cloth as
David Berman from Silver Jews and pours his smarts into the inevitable, but appreciated, songs
about girls. "Your Bruise," my favorite, not only name-checks Helium's Mary Timony,
but opens with the observation "you're so far-sighted that you can't place trust in what or
who you recognize." I have yet to grow tired of hearing the cello in rock and the few songs it's employed on here
reinforce that feeling. Not as low as a bass and with a resonant tone, I just hope its frequent
recurrence in general won't turn it into cliché. All this and a great CD booklet with a die cut
cover and vellum flysheet. Highly recommended.
Rating: 7
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