OK, so I just bought Give Up by The Postal Service. It’s great. And now I’m intrigued by Death Cab for Cutie. Which album should I buy? Which other similar artists should I be on the lookout for?
I haven’t listened to any Death Cab for Cutie stuff, but The Postal Service is a very very cool group 
Photo album is quite nice, though I haven’t heard any of their others.
I haven’t listened to any Death Cab for Cutie stuff, but The Postal Service is a very very cool group
Differing opinions depending on who you ask…but I think that their best is “The Photo Album”, followed very closely by “Something About Airplanes”. I’m not crazy about “We have the Facts and we’re Voting Yes”, but I know some DCFC fans who claim that one as their fav.
I agree with mouthbreather.
I respectfully disagree with Mouthbreather. We Have The Facts… is a great album, although it is not as lively and upbeat as the other two. That said, I love their other two albums, and you’d be well served buying any of them.
Actually, the best value for you DCFC dollar is probably the Forbidden Love EP, because it has two of their best songs on it (“Photobooth” and “Song For Kelly Huckaby”).
Have you heard any Death Cab? I agree that the Postal Service album is great, but DCFC isn’t extremely similar - there’s none of the warm electronic-pop sounds of the PS; it’s very guitar orientated.
Probably the best thing to do is to go to their website, where you can download some mp3s from each album. The tracks are fairly representative of their respective albums, and should give you a good idea of what you’ll like.
As for other other Death Cab and Postal Service like groups, you should certainly try DNTEL (Jimmy Tamborello, the other half of the Postal Service). Ben Gibbard did a track called (This is) The Dream of Evan and Chan with him.
After Death Cab, the next logical step is to move on to other groups in the northwestern scene, such as Built To Spill, Modest Mouse and Elliot Smith, and also the Dismemberment Plan, whom they’ve toured with.
A group called Architecture in Helsinki have a similar feel to the Postal Service; you might like them, too.
Thank you thank you!! gex gex, I have heard a little bit from them, mostly from downloads. I have very varied taste in music, and appreciate pretty much anything that’s well done. I checked DCFC out after listening to the Postal Service album, because of the Ben Gibbard link. His voice and lyrics are so different from anything else I’ve heard.
Off to buy new CDs. 
There’s nothing quite as fun as finding something new to listen to and get obsessed with.
I’ll second the recommendations of The Photo Album and the Forbidden Love EP. They also do a cool cover of Bjork’s “All is Full of Love” on their Stability EP.
As well, Ben Gibbard has a side project that goes by the name of All-Time Quarterback - more lo-fi and sparse than most of DCFC’s music, but not bad.