We have the facts...

...And we're voting: Death Cab for Cutie is the poop!

Lisa and I caught the show at the Showbox last Friday (5/7), the second of three consecutive shows at the Showbox, where they ended their latest tour. They were on the road promoting their latest record, Transatlanticism. If you don't know about the band, they're originally from Bellingham, WA, but more or less call Seattle home now. They play trippy pop rock that has its influences in 1980s Euro New Wave and sad sap music, and hearing their records brings out a certain nostalgia. I sometimes feel like I'm a kid again, putting on bright colored Converse Chucks for the first time. They have a kind of a toned-down Smashing Pumpkins sound (I'll get grief for that one), with Carissa's Wierd/Built To Spill/Ron Sexsmith/Elliot Smith/Sunny Day Real Estate thrown into the mix. But Death Cab's music is odd and dreamily beautiful, thanks to the guitars and Ben Gibbard's low-effort singing. (Gibbard says his real music influence is Hall and Oates, which is weird, since I don't know where Hall and Oates fits into the Death Cab sound, much less Gibbard's synth-driven side project, The Postal Service)

On Friday, they played a really tight set, playing songs from every album, but definitely drawing from the latest one. They played for a little over an hour, and each band member got the chance to showcase his skills. The bassist and lead guitarist traded instruments a couple of times, and Gibbard and the drummer did a drum duet, complete with two kits facing each other. Amazing stuff.

The only disappointment in their set, and it is a minor one, is that the band's live sound doesn't sound quite as good as their recordings. It's not the venue (The Showbox sounds really, really good). It must be the fact that four guys alone live can't put together what sounds like a veritable orchestra on the recordings. Not to mention that they don't have the benefit of technical studio magic when playing live. Doesn't matter. It was a solid performance.

The show opened with one of Death Cab's label mates, Aveo. Not very good. Their songs sounded pretty generic (indie-wannabe slacker sound), and the songs all sounded the same. Same riffs and chord changes. Eesh. And the lead singer looked as uncomfortable playing his guitar as the day he first picked one up. Also, I don't usually like to criticize a band for its collective look, but these guys seem to go to the same hair stylist. I couldn't tell them apart because they have the same Ramones lookalike haircut. Sorry, I'm being bitchy, but they sucked.

Ben Kweller, on the other hand, was a delight. The youngster from Texas definitely knows all the rock moves, and put them all on display that night. He sounds like a few of the indie rockers out there, but he's got style and energy. Too bad I don't know enough about his music. I'll make it a priority to check out some of his albums. Personally, he stole the show with his acoustic cover of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby". My jaw dropped to the floor in amazement. It was awesome.