The first impression of The Eastern Sea was “Oh. Death Cab for Cutie.” And to be sure: the clear, sweet, suddenly soaring vocals, simplistic beats and overall song structure are very Death Cab, but this does not stop it from being good music. This is the sort of gentle, lyrical indie rock that we liberal arts college students eat up.

The music is lyric driven and as such features some wonderful imagery. They are a local Austin band which, aside from any patriotic feeling that may arouse, is a wonderful testament to the variety of sounds we get coming out of our fair city.

I might even go as far as to say that they are better than Death Cab in that their music has more variety, which is to be expected from a 10 piece band.

Their old stuff is more diverse than their new EP lets on. They experimented with more blatantly folksy guitar, Postal Service-esqe computer beats and songs with silly topics like kangaroos and one called “The Goddamn Truth.”

The new EP is more settled, being content with good musicianship and ambiguous relationship tales. Despite none of it being anything you haven’t heard before, the Eastern Sea provides enjoyable music to sing along to or keep in the background while you do your Pre- Cal homework, or to pipe through your ear buds while you walk to class.

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