Album Review:Death Cab for Cutie - Codes and Keys

Bellingham, Washington's Death Cab for Cutie have been skulking stages as long as their sonic cousins John Vanderslice, Pedro the Lion and Built to Spill.    Death Cab's newest LP 'Codes and Keys' is masterwork.    Thoughtful, introspective lyrics built upon their musical abstractions slip their hooks into you like The Postal Service and Silver Scooter on a vision quest in the Queen Charlotte Islands.    Death Cab have an absolute understanding of the development and construction of an LP, as the crucial placement of tracks 2, 4 and 7 anchor the remaining songs in the timeless path of their rock n' roll time machine.

Track 2: Death Cab for Cutie - Codes & Keys



Track 4: Death Cab for Cutie - Doors Unlocked and Open



Track 5: Death Cab for Cutie - You are a Tourist



Track 7: Death Cab for Cutie - Monday Morning

Album Review:Noah and the Whale-Last Night on Earth

In the opening 27 seconds of the first track Life is Life on Noah and the Whale's latest album Last Night on Earth, it reminds me how much I miss The Postal Service.    However, it all rapidly falls apart into a tiresome deluge of optimism and feel-goodism like Bruce Hornsby trying to emulate Belle and Sebastian.    If you need further proof, get a load of L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N.    And, you guessed it: They spell out the chorus.