Why we like it: Once again, the Illinois/Southern California boys have written a record from the heart. It would be hard to top ‘All the Stars and Boulevards’ but sometimes this record comes real close. If you enjoyed some of the sub-tracks on their previous record (Sunday Best, Coffee and Cigarettes) you’ll like this. The lead singer, Daniel, cut his hair and looks like Brandon from The Killers now. It’s easily comparable. Sams Town is to Hot Fuss as Can’t Love, Can’t Hurt is to All the Stars and Boulevards.
Why we don’t: Often times, it sounds like they went into the studio with a track from other bands and said “Yeah, make it sound like them.” Some tracks are stellar, but a lot of them lose their flair, fast. At least it’s not like some bands sophmoric efforts. It could’ve been better, but by no means is a bad record.
Genre: Rock, Pop, Indie
Like Artist: The Fray, Jack’s Mannequin, Dashboard Confessional

Play Augustana

Holy lord Jesus. The 80’s are back, with a vengeance. Maybe I was just in the dark, or listening to the softer side of synth by filling my Itunes with Air and Royksopp. Until a friend recommended Cut Copy to me.

After listening to their record, I was sure it was just some DJ like experience. After seeing them live at Coachella this past weekend, it is anything but. An upbeat-indiepop-dance act, is exactly what they are. Anytime one of their tunes come on, I immediately wanna white boy dance. It’s like the first time I saw the A-Ha ‘Take On Me’ video. Absolutely brilliant. Check out 3 of their tunes below and buy the record. Start your weekend early.

Cut Copy - Quick Mix

As being a Coachella attendee this year, I made it a point to see Santogold live. Her music hit me as fun and upbeat, and I wanted to see if she could pull it off live. Most certainly, she did. With 2 background dancers and a high energy performance, Santo won me over as a fan. She should be lucky to win you over too.

I had the pleasure of seeing the Ben Gibbard ’sway’ first hand this weekend at the raging Coachella festival. I’ll tell you more about that later, as I must rinse my Coachella sins away for the time being. But, in more Death Cab News, Daytrotter, the source for really cool articles on unknowns and knowns alike is hosting 6 live downloads from DCFC. Two of the tracks are off the new ‘Narrow Stairs,’ and the rest are assorted from Transatlanticism and The Photo Album. Free Music Tuesdays are the bestest.

(click on the picture to go to daytrotter)

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from the indie quartet from the northwest. About a year and a half ago, it was nearly impossible to keep Ben Gibbards name out of any sentence that concerned new music. DCFC had been around for awhile at that point, but the buzz was finally catching up. With the release of Plans, and the prior Transatlanticism, Cutie seemed to be out for our ears.

Not only was Soul Meets Body flooding the airwaves, but radio stations actually clued into the fact that The Postal Services ‘Give Up,’ was actually a good record. And now, Death Cab will be releasing a new disc, ‘Narrow Stairs’ sometime in the near future. It was Daytrotter that broke the news to me, with even more good news on the subject. They have exclusive tracks that are going to be available for download sometime in the next two weeks.

I think they’re slyly planning to release these mid-week before Coachella, where the quartet will be one of the near end acts on Saturday night. When the tracks are released, I’ll let you know, so you can head over to the trotter and load them up on your ipod for your trip. Til then, keep rockin socks.