Death Cab for Cutie - Transatlanticism

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This is my first DFC, so I can't compare it to their older stuff but I think it is frigging great. Anyone else dig it?

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Listened to about the first 15 seconds or so, then fell asleep.

― CA1STAR3 (calstars), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:44 (twenty-two years ago)

Glad you gave it a fair shot.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

My roommate put it on and I made fun of him. DCFC have gotta be the wussiest band ever.

― adam (adam), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:54 (twenty-two years ago)

More of the same from Ben Gibbard & Co. The Postal Service is much more amusing.

― Xii (Xii), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:55 (twenty-two years ago)

you only really need one or two DCFC albums in your life, and this one is as good as any.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:56 (twenty-two years ago)

(owning them all is overkill, kinda like owning all the Stereolab albums)

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 03:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Hearing them makes me want to pull my eyeballs out of my sockets with my fingernails. And the Postal Service - don't even get me started.

― CA1STAR3 (calstars), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not so familiar with the music, but it's got to be one of the worst band names ever.

Ever time I hear or read 'Death Cab for Cutie' I cring. Horrible. Cring, cring.

― Debito (Debito), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Horrible Cring Cring on the other hand would make an excellent name for a band!!(no fooling. i mean it.)

― scott seward, Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not paradigmically opposed to DCFC, for the record. Which is why I like The Postal Service.

― Xii (Xii), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:18 (twenty-two years ago)

i like em okay but when i saw them live it seemed like every single girl in the audience wanted to fuck gibbard. which kinda put me off them for a bit

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

did you think you wouldn't have a chance?

― scott seward, Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

with ben? you never know

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

indeed. actually, i felt that way at a sebadoh show once. i felt like i was intruding on a religious ceremony of some sort. everyone was lying on the ground and they knew all the words and the air was very moist.

― scott seward, Thursday, 30 October 2003 04:23 (twenty-two years ago)

their first two albums were quite good; the second particularily. The songs were elaborate and obtuse, while the production was marvellously sparse and chilly. Their third album was downright lousy for the most part; the production was bright and garish, and the lyrics were almost cringeworthy. I've heard the new album described as 'radio ready', so I'm not even touching it.

But seriously, this band gets a bad rap, and maybe deservedly so these days, but 'We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes' is absolutely worth giving a chance to. The package is lovely, too.

― derrick (derrick), Thursday, 30 October 2003 05:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Derrick OTM here, the first two albums are spectacular, and "We Have the Facts" is their masterpiece; original sounds, unpredictable rhythms, a nice piece of indie pop with menacing lyrical undertones. They have lost the plot since then, maybe beginning with "song for Kelly Huckaby," on the ep that came out just after "We Have The Facts." It still might be their best and most powerful song, but everything they've done since has been sonically the same: big swaths of guitar chords and all the delicacy gone, and the lyrics have become obvious and occasionally just dumb (that LA song). The Photo Album and the new one are alright, I suppose, but I wish they'd return to the intricate things that made "Facts" a really special record. I hated the Postal Service record, it sounded tossed off in one weekend, bad, bad, BAD lyrics, lame beats, shitty synth sounds. "Such Great Heights" directly lifted the chord progression of a Bright Eyes song which is annoying too.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Thursday, 30 October 2003 07:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Agreed that We Have the Facts is their best. To me, this new one sounds like something that years later people will refer to as "really the first Ben Gibbard solo record" (like Trompe le Monde was "really the first Frank Black solo record"). It has a nice sparseness (at least compared to the last one), with Gibbard's voice at the forefront -- but there's fewer catchy, efficient guitar lines as usual and more plodding, atmospheric piano (which on some songs I think would be great as the basis for a Postal Service song, because then it'd at least be energized with scattered beats).

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 30 October 2003 08:13 (twenty-two years ago)

five years pass...

'death of an interior decorator' does some nice things vocally and isn't so far removed from some of elliott smith's more ambitious vocal forays. in fact when the vocals are mixed up a bit, the tenderness of the songs comes to the fore with DCFC. i get the sense that too many songs on this album, particularly the longer ones, play out without incident or punchline. sort of lingering there in a non-threatening way.

― Charlie Howard, Friday, 13 February 2009 03:07 (seventeen years ago)

"Such Great Heights" directly lifted the chord progression of a Bright Eyes song which is annoying too.

C Em G D !!! That's like the most common of all chord progressions.

― Mahatma Blagojevich (redmond), Friday, 13 February 2009 03:14 (seventeen years ago)

funny revive, i put this on for the first time in forever yest

― its gotta be HOOSy para steen (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Friday, 13 February 2009 03:35 (seventeen years ago)

haha, same kind of deal with me. song came up on shuffle this morning, and i decided to give the rest of the album a listen too.

― Charlie Howard, Friday, 13 February 2009 04:27 (seventeen years ago)

I still like a lot of this record. "Transatlanticism" in particular despite 6 Feet Under and "We Looked Like Giants" mostly because it reminds me of the Smiths in happy ways but also for the fourth verse, which kinda redeems the dudness of the third.

― butt-rock miyagi (rogermexico.), Friday, 13 February 2009 04:35 (seventeen years ago)

this rekd sounds better than i remember. pretty much entirely downhill from here though, plans sounds exactly as shit as i remember

― electrodribble sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, 13 February 2009 04:43 (seventeen years ago)

one month passes...

I've been revisiting Narrow Stairs lately and am kinda shocked at how much I like it given that it did precisely shit for me when I first got my hands on it. Idk how I missed that it's basically Death Can for Krautrock.

― HOOS talking about magic & spells & steen dude! (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Friday, 10 April 2009 07:43 (sixteen years ago)

fourteen years pass...

Hearing them makes me want to pull my eyeballs out of my sockets with my fingernails. And the Postal Service - don't even get me started.

Saw both bands on a double bill tonight, they were pretty great! A fun show.

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Sunday, 1 October 2023 06:33 (two years ago)

I hated the Postal Service record, it sounded tossed off in one weekend, bad, bad, BAD lyrics, lame beats, shitty synth sounds. "Such Great Heights" directly lifted the chord progression of a Bright Eyes song which is annoying too.

god I wonder what song I was thinking of when I wrote this, I can't recall. I rather like that song now. and in fact am going to this Transatlanticism/Postal Service show next week. even though I still think this particular DCFC album is not very good.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Sunday, 1 October 2023 22:22 (two years ago)

feeling very old looking up dates for the 20th anniversary of the postal service concerts, ran it by my Dad and learned he has seen death cab live three or four times (?!) (he also has tattoos, he's cooler than I am)

would love to be there, seems like every local band that isn't a metal band is trying to sound like death cab or the postal service, in portland anyways, continue to be surprised there hasn't been a rilo kiley victory lap yet

― Florin Cuchares, Tuesday, 3 October 2023 07:05 (two years ago)

I saw Death Cab last year, they usually have about two or so really good songs per record so it makes for a solid show. And "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" is a better post prom (and now you're dead) song than "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)."

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 3 October 2023 12:34 (two years ago)

ha, this show was endless amounts of fun. Postal Service album comes off better live than it does on record.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Tuesday, 10 October 2023 18:11 (two years ago)

xxp never associate tattoos with being cool

― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 19:01 (two years ago)

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Herve_Villechaize_1977.jpg/440px-Herve_Villechaize_1977.jpg

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 10 October 2023 19:02 (two years ago)

I was also struck by how much better the Postal Service album sounds live!

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Tuesday, 10 October 2023 20:25 (two years ago)

I like that they leaned into the cheesy bits like the vocoder vox, and also liked Ben playing drums. Did you get a special Jen Wood appearance where you were? That's a really dumb song IMO, but they made it enjoyable.

― I? not I! He! He! HIM! (akm), Wednesday, 11 October 2023 01:10 (two years ago)

nah, saw them down in Texas... no special guest stars

― the absence of bikes (f. hazel), Wednesday, 11 October 2023 02:10 (two years ago)

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