Track Listing

1. President of What?
2. Champagne from a Paper Cup
3. Pictures in an Exhibition
4. Hindsight
5. That's Incentive
6. Amputations
7. Two Cars
8. Line of Best Fit
9. This Charming Man
10. TV Trays
11. New Candles
12. Tomorrow
13. Flustered/Hey Tomcat
14. State Street Residential
15. Wait
16. Prove My Hypotheses
17. Song for Kelly Huckaby
18. Army Corps of Architects

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23194 in Music
• Released on: 2005-04-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Best of
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Full Title - You Can Play These Songs With Chords. Album includes Out-Of-Print rarities and never-before released songs. 18 tracks. Barsuk Records. 2002.

Customer Reviews

Fun album
Out of sheer randomness, this seems to be the first Death Cab For Cutie album that I've acquired or even listened to, so I have not all that much in the way of context here.

That said, I like this a lot. It's happy bouncy music, and there's absoutely nothing to dislike. I hear some echoes of Built To Spill here and there, and perhaps even a touch of Olivia Tremor Control. I'd have to say that my initial preference is for the first 8 tracks that, as I understand it, composed the original album - they seem a bit more consistent and hang together nicely. But the 10 additional tracks are damned fun (especially the Smith's cover, lyrical gaffes aside)- the band seems to be having a great time, and it's infectious.

Considering that this album seems to be peripheral to the bulk of these guys' output, I'm looking forward to see what the rest of their catalogue has in store.

A Long-term Resident in My CD Player
This CD was a Christmas gift and an amazing one at that. The melodies are addictive! I was a somewhat interested DCfC fan before I heard this album, now I am a true fan. The number of tracks makes this CD a bargain and the cover is a really neat picture of Bellingham. If you like DCfC or want to get to know their music, this is a great addition to your CD collection.

Not Your Typical Death Cab
What the heck was Ben Gibbard thinking?!?! The cover of the Smith's "This Charming Man" is downright embarassing and should of never seen the light of day. The keyboards in the track "Tomorrow" borrow heavily from New Order's "Temptation." Bernard Sumner and Co. deserve writing credit for this song. The rest of the tracks are pretty mediocre at best...painful as going to the dentist at their worst.
If you are new to Death Cab...skip this cd and go get "The Photo Album" or "We have the Facts" instead. And while you're at it get the Postal Service's "Give Up" as well. These albums are better in every possible way than this cd of rare B-sides and demos.