We’ve Been Strangers? How about: We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes. My favorite Death Cab ride aside, this approaches the nexus of indie rock power balladry with a tinge of everyone’s favorite Postal Service employee. If Gibbard-dom is the aim, Awake! Awake! has almost ascended such great heights.

Did I mention my first impression? Mmm . . . wait for it . . . DEATHCABFORCUTIE.

Seriously, there is a lot here to like. The dynamics ebb and soar, maintaining an integrity that allows you to go along with it without feeling an emotional affront. “The Dawn” is a perfect opener. Jarring, percussive simplicity punctuated one measure in with a repeated guitar line draws you in. The vocals rise and the tension builds into a crescendo of momentary feedback, then the familiar dirge of shoegaze reverb.

Sadly, it’s a little downhill from there. The fare becomes a little more conventional, the lyrics a little obtuse and stilted; just a little. There appears to be a pervading sense of Protestant guilt between the lines.

The exception is “All I Hold.” Again, they go back to basics. An acoustic guitar drones, a toy piano sings along on the chorus and something akin to a B-movie spaceship seems to be landing in the background. Tape flutter or extra-terrestrials, I like me some noise. It all decays into the twangy sparseness of “The Fall/The Flight” and we’re back on safer footing.

Awake! Awake! rock a little harder than I’ve let on, primarily because I see that as their biggest weakness. My favorite moments on this record are the calm before the storm. The simple dynamic of rhythm and melody are a real talent. It’s a place to hang their hat among quasi- and recycled second-generation Christian bands like MuteMath, Switchfoot and Copeland.