These People Talk To Me But I Don’t Know Their Names

Death Cab For Cutie “Different Names For The Same Thing” – I had never thought much of Ben Gibbard’s music until fairly recently, and even now I approach his work with some reservation. On the surface, his music with Death Cab For Cutie and the Postal Service is amiable but somewhat indistinct, much of it coming off as bland and aggressively “tasteful,” like a contemporary literary fiction writer’s conception of what a sincere indie pop band would sound like. It’s hardly a shock that soundtrack people would gravitate to his catalog, or that television writers would have sensitive but deeply self-absorbed characters like Seth Cohen and Claire Fisher be fans of his records. It just sounds right and makes intuitive sense as a shorthand for an entire aesthetic.

As it turns out, I had mistaken Gibbard’s relative genericness for outright mediocrity. Though much of his catalog does not do much for me, he is capable of periodic flashes of low-key brilliance, particularly when he is in his comfort zone of creating a vaguely arty version of soft rock. He’s famous for covering Phil Collins, and judging by his best songs, doing that was never an ironic or kitschy gesture. “Different Names For The Same Thing” echoes late period John Lennon and Wilco, but the reason it works is mainly due to the subtle Phil Collins-ness of the melody and his vocal deliverary as he pushes for melodrama in a way that is more akin to the nuance of cinema than stage theatricality. Like Collins, Gibbard excels when he takes small moments and emotions and frames them so that they seem grandiose and life changing. This is clearly the work of a man who (rightly) believes that “Tonight Tonight Tonight,” “Take Me Home” and “In The Air Tonight” are great and unique pop songs. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)

Audio Bullys “I’m In Love” – And it sounds like he’s in love, too. It’s not delirious or giddy or particularly dramatic, but more of a gentle, laid back sort of love best expressed by slow but bouncey saw wave synths, tinkly lead piano, contented la-la-la-ing, and a bit of heavily accented British lad rapping. (Click here to pre-order it from Amazon.)