I normally can’t stand finger-in-the-wind music snobs… you know, the ones who were hailing The Strokes as the biggest thing since the Velvet Undrerground in the pre-buzz phase, but decided that they were “over” as soon as the fratboys had heard of them? But I did have a moment of snobby bitterness on Monday. See, I hadn’t bothered to pick up tickets in advance for Death Cab for Cutie because, well, stuff at the Black Cat never sells out… not even on weekends. I figured I’d be fine for a Monday night show if I got there at a reasonable hour.

Nope. Sold out by that morning. And I’m sure that the surprise popularity of Ben Gibbard’s poppier side project, The Postal Service is the cause. I caught myself thinking: “Man, I bet half the people in there hadn’t even heard of Death Cab a year ago…” Yeah. I found myself resenting the fact that an amazing band was getting the popularity they deserve. I’ll be working on my hair shirt for the rest of the day.

Postscript: Anyone who was there want to weigh in on whether it’s worth making a trip to NYC this weekend to catch ’em at the Bowery Ballroom on Sunday or Monday?