You know how when you talk to a Seattle music aficionado about Death Cab for Cutie you get, at best, a smiling dismissal that would have you believe it’s only the rest of the country buying into that melodic shtick? Uh huh.

Well, I don’t own any Death Cab records. And I’m not saying that because it’s cool to say that, I’m saying it because I don’t own any Death Cab records. But my goddaughter is a huge fan (yeah, laugh it up, posers) and this required me to watch Death Cab close Bumbershoot last summer. Which I did happily and enjoyed thoroughly. I enjoyed it so thoroughly, in fact, that I wondered why Seattle was full of Death Cab haters (it must have been out-of-towners filling the stadium).

So today I once again received my newsletter from the city’s Film and Music Office and noticed that, according to figures compiled from Sonic Boom (home of the cognoscenti) and Easy Street (again, no slouches), Death Cab has not one but two albums in the Top 10 NW Music list for last week.

Are there more 14-year-old girls in Seattle than I’m aware of? Or are Seattle’s music snobs buying and lying? Just a thought. Go back to Pissed Jeans, or whatever you were listening to.