Death Cab = Prefab

Two unfortunately named bands make eerily similar music.

Death Cab for Cutie’s new album (which has been on heavy rotation all weekend) sounds very much like selected songs from the Prefab Sprout ouvre, particularly their first, Swoon.

Heather often cites my love of Prefab as the demarcation line in our age difference. That and the Waterboys. I still hold Fisherman’s Blues up there as one of the top albums of the 80s.

However, it was I who brought The Postal Service into the house. Still, that doesn’t make up for the fact that I have, somewhere in the vault, either Journey or Loverboy on vinyl. This would be before I lived in England and learned better.

Heather gave me the Doves and I offered Catherine Wheel. She the New Pornographers and I Marumari. It’s a delicious dance, this love of music and sharing. I still think she tires of my electronic leanings; Amon Tobin, TRS-80, Shadow, Boards of Canada, Four Tet, The Dining Rooms, Aphex Twin, and others (although I did score points with u-ziq’s Royal Astronomy). We share a love for Ben Folds (I had seen him live before she had) and Soul Coughing (the most underrated band of the 90s). Music is also a dangerous addiction, worse than crack. And this is going into wanky Pitchforkmedia/indie snob territory, so I’ll stop now.