Throw Me the Statue...but not too hard

I am really, really enjoying the debut album from Seattle's Throw Me the Statue, fuzzy, sweet, Elephant Six-ish band that is mostly Scott Reithermann, augmented by about half a dozen of his best friends on everything from melodica to trombone. It's sort of wispy, pastel-colored pop, a little too muscle-y to be really twee, a little too intelligent to be saccharine or cutesy. This is not my usual area of strength (I like bands where you can use the word "buzzsaw" in your reviews), but if you believe the one sheet, appropriate references include Peter Bjorn & John and Magnetic Fields. There was an EP late last year, and the full-length, called Moonbeams, will be out February 19th. If you live in Seattle, you can see them on any of the next three Mondays (1/7, 1/14, 1/21) at Chop Suey. If you're anywhere else, you'll just have to wait, won't you? Meanwhile, here's an MP3 of "About to Walk":http://www.scjag.com/mp3/sc/abouttowalk.mp3And a link to Throw Me the Statue on KEXP's podcast:http://www.digitalwell.washington.edu/dw/1/51/a5/a51ad58e-bbe6-4703-ba4b-50ace6cdca94.mp3And the inevitable, the informative and interesting MySpace link:http://www.myspace.com/throwmethest