Kind of Like Spitting

Even with the independent success of Death Cab For Cutie's last album, singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard still manages to find time to release other projects. On the side, Gibbard plays drums for Kind of Like Spitting and in the early days of DCFC he released a one-time solo project called All-Time Quarterback. The former is the brainchild of one Ben Barnett, a singer/songwriter/guitarist obviously influenced by the emo scene. Bridges Worth Burning is an extraordinary bunch of songs that are reminiscent of Jimmy Eat World's older material. Barnett has a great voice that matches the intricate noises he makes with his guitar. As well, his lyrics are quite witty, coming up with lines such as, "They were born beautiful so right away they swore they'd get themselves a house one day and read to each other..." and "We like the music with vocals mixed low/we speak of songs as if no one else knows." All-Time Quarterback is a lo-fi collection of songs written and performed by Gibbard back in 1999. The production isn't anything special and gets worse on the second half of the album. However, if more DCFC is what you're looking for, ATQ will likely do the job. Gibbard's vocal sweetness was no different and songs like the friendly "Plans Get Complex," "Rules Broken" and his cover of the Magnetic Fields' "Why I Cry" are all good reasons to check out this simplistic yet satisfying side project.