Semi-Guilty Pleasure: Death Cab For Cutie

I came to Death Cab For Cutie's 2003 near-masterpiece Transatlanticism a few months late (i.e. mid-2004), not because the band was apparently popularized on the O.C. -- a show I'll have you know I only see in fits and starts because my wife is watching, sort of like Desperate Housewives, and don't even get me started on Survivor... but I digress -- but because my local library had a copy and I decided to give it a try. I'd seen the band name-checked by usually trustworthy sources (long before this album, and the O.C.-inspired fame/infamy), but for some reason had never quite gotten hooked. But either I missed something in those earlier efforts, or this is a marked departure, because one listen and I totally fell in love with this disc. Actually, that's only semi-accurate. It took a few listens. And with each listen, I liked it more and more. It's sonically adventurous, lyrically striking, and really hits that balance between post-Pavement indie rawk and Elliott Smith-ish introspective folk-balladry. But you can hear more about it on the O.C., so enough from me. But damn if this isn't one fine, fine disc.