Aqueduct

When Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard started a little side project called the Postal Service, Barsuk, Death Cab's label at the time, probably didn't bat an eye. A few hundred thousand moved units later, the imprint probably wished liked hell it had snapped up the Service when it had...

By Jason Heller

January 27, 2005

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When Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard started a little side project called the Postal Service, Barsuk, Death Cab's label at the time, probably didn't bat an eye. A few hundred thousand moved units later, the imprint probably wished liked hell it had snapped up the Service when it had the chance. So does that justify the folks at Barsuk signing a band that sounds like a half-assed Postal Service clone? Apparently, they think soŠbecause here's Aqueduct. The Seattle-by-way-of-Oklahoma outfit just released its debut full-length, I Sold Gold -- a title that bites off a bit more ambition than it can chew. Still, what comes on like second-rate electro-pop reveals itself to be much tougher -- yet frailer -- than the Postal Service's gleaming facade. Frontman David Terry invests more humor and humanity into his lyrics than Gibbard, and his lopsided tunes come out looser, scratchier and bursting with twisted hooks. Aqueduct may never reach such great heights as its blatant inspiration, but it has a quirky wit and short-circuiting charm all its own.

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