With songs equal to those on We Have the Facts and a lush, brilliant production that continues what The Photo Album started, Transatlanticism is easily Death Cab’s best record to date. Much attention has duly been focused on doe-eyed singer/lyricist Ben Gibbard, co-star of the Postal Service phenomenon, and Ben’s voice is as strange, beautiful, and as strong as ever on these songs, which deal with the difficulties of long-distance relationships. But guitarist/producer Chris Walla once again proves himself to be the band’s secret weapon, layering subtle sonic touches throughout Transatlanticism, which is most definitely a “headphone record.” This Seattle quartet is one of the only bands to really have picked up the intelligent, emotionally resonant, and guitar-driven indie-pop torch that Built to Spill briefly lit in the mid-1990s (before themselves heading off to the stoner-rock territory). DCFC themselves seem poised to finally break out to a wider audience, and they truly deserve it with this disc.

Tracklist:

1. New Year, The
2. Lightness
3. Title and Registration
4. Expo ’86
5. Sound of Settling, The
6. Tiny Vessels
7. Transatlanticism
8. Passenger Seat
9. Death of an Interior Decorator
10. We Looked Like Giants
11. Lack of Color, A

UPC: 655173103227
Label: Barsuk
Release Date: 10.7.03
Format: CD