Ben Gibbard on that glow-up of a haircut and his love-hate relationship with LA

LOS ANGELES — Twenty-one years ago, Ben Gibbard's life changed twice in the span of eight months.

In February 2003, the frontman of Seattle's Death Cab for Cutie released "Give Up," the first (and only) album by his electro-pop side project the Postal Service; it went on to become an indie blockbuster, selling more than a million copies and spawning swoony millennial anthems like "Such Great Heights." Gibbard doubled down in October of that year with Death Cab's even swoonier "Transatlanticism," which led to the band's appearance on the hit teen soap "The O.C." and a major-label deal with Atlantic Records.

Last fall, Death Cab and the Postal Service marked the 20th anniversary of both LPs with a tour on which each act performed its signature work from beginning to end. (Gibbard, an experienced long-distance runner, has joked about the no-big-deal endurance required to play two 45-minute albums in one evening.) Like "Give Up" and "Transatlanticism," the road show was a hit, filling arenas and amphitheaters including Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl. Now the groups are set to take a victory lap with performances at Saturday's Just Like Heaven festival in Pasadena.

For Gibbard, 47, the show marks a return to familiar ground: He formed the Postal Service with a pair of Angelenos: producer Jimmy Tamborello and singer of L.A.'s Rilo Kiley. "Transatlanticism," meanwhile, describes a fling with a woman in Silver Lake and followed Death Cab's 2001 "The Photo Album," on which Gibbard asks someone why they'd want to live in a town