According to the movie, Magnolia, life often moves through coincidence. Sometimes these coincidences can be so uncanny that one stands back in awe of the situation. For instance, a journalist is assigned a story on Death Cab for Cutie hours before the band is set to play. Due to the last minute assignment of the article and the fact that it is the writer’s birthday, she walks into the interview unprepared. However, when she arrives, the band is in the middle of another interview and since that interviewer is a Death Cab for Cutie superfan, our bewildered journalist is provided all the information she needs. Coincidence number one.

As I sit down to talk with the four men of Death Cab, I apologize profusely for my impromptu state due to birthday slack. I am told not to worry and guitarist, Chris, chimes in that his birthday was the day before. Yet another coincidence.

The unique thing about Death Cab for Cutie is the fact that they aren’t your average band and yet they are. Four normal guys who love music and are content to do it even if it means not making millions. There’s no romance, no false humility masking a secret desire to be rock stars. In fact, they’re almost too realistic.

“Things don’t feel like you think they would feel,” lead singer, Ben Gibbard, explains, “for example, last year we played in a huge arena, it was probably the biggest show we’ll ever play. When I got home I was totally laughing at myself. ‘I just played on the hugest stage I’ve ever seen, it was bigger than my apartment, and now I’m at home eating a sandwich, checking my email.’ ”

What? The realistic side of music? If you have an insatiable need for the gory drug-ridden-sleazy-glam side of music you best not read from here on because the disillusionment continues.

“When I would go see bands when I was in high school [I would] have this idea, ‘Wow, wouldn’t it be great to be up there doing that? That would be the greatest thing in the world.’ ” Ben continues, “Now that we’re doing it, it’s great, but you don’t wake up every morning [thinking] ‘Yeah! This is the greatest thing in the world!’ ”

“I certainly didn’t do that just now.” Guitarist, Chris Walla, jokes since he just woke up.

“Getting to where you are now is such a gradual step that it doesn’t really dawn on you while it’s happening.” Ben adds.

Lest anyone think these guys are getting too realistically wise on us, be reminded that this is the same band who recorded a song entitled, “the face that launched a thousand shits.” If anything, the harsh down-to-earth psyche of Death Cab for Cutie can only add to the enjoyment of their music. Theirs is a no frills zone. The lyrics are pensive and intelligent. The music poppy yet the melody lines still creative and intricate. This is music for the thinker.

So was it any surprise that I ran into several members of the band the very next day at the Griffith Observatory? Perhaps or perhaps it was just yet another one of life’s strange coincidences.