Death Cab for Cutie
Death Cab for Cutie is an American rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. The band is composed of Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Dave Depper, Zac Rae, and Jason McGerr. The band is known for a melodic, introspective sound that blends indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock, characterized by sensitive, introspective songwriting.
Death Cab for Cutie emerged from the Pacific Northwest in the late 1990s, spearheaded by singer-songwriter Gibbard alongside original guitarist and producer Chris Walla. The group refined their sound on early releases including Something About Airplanes, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, and The Photo Album. Their 2003 album Transatlanticism marked a commercial and critical breakthrough, and, along with the major-label debut Plans, helped bring indie rock into the mainstream. Subsequent albums such as the chart-topping Narrow Stairs and Codes and Keys saw the band further diversify their sound. Walla departed prior to the release of Kintsugi. The band later released Thank You for Today and Asphalt Meadows.
Over a career spanning more than three decades, Death Cab for Cutie have been described as "one of the definitive indie bands of the 2000s and 2010s." They were one of the major bands associated with the rise of indie rock, with their 2000s-era output producing several platinum-selling albums and charting singles. The band has received numerous accolades, including multiple Grammy Award nominations.
History
Formation and origins (1995–97)
Death Cab for Cutie emerged in the late 1990s out of the Pacific Northwest independent music scene, spearheaded by singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard. The group first formed in Bellingham, Washington, a small college town north of Seattle, in 1997. Gibbard was studying at Western Washington University and had been performing for many years in the pop-punk group Pinwheel, but began to write songs he felt were unsuitable for the project. Bassist Nick Harmer, a year older, was booking campus gigs when he first met Gibbard. Gibbard and Harmer first got their start in a band called Shed, which later became the band Eureka Farm; Harmer and future Death Cab drummer Jason McGerr rounded out a later lineup. Gibbard met guitarist and producer Chris Walla at a concert, and the two bonded over shared interests. Walla, who was writing songs himself and taking audio engineering classes, offered to help record demos on the weekends, using a Tascam 80-8 reel-to-reel recorder. After a year, they decided to develop the project into a full-fledged band.Gibbard took the band name from the song "Death Cab for Cutie", which was written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall and recorded by their group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band. The song is a track on the Bonzo's 1967 debut album, Gorilla, and was performed by them in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. The title was originally that of a story in an old pulp fiction crime magazine that Innes came across in a street market. In a later interview, Gibbard expressed ambivalence over the name, suggesting that had he known the band would become successful he might have given it a better band name.
They compiled a cassette-only demo album, titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords, pressing up 150 copies to sell around the small town. They partnered with a small label ran by friends called Elsinor Records for the release. Shortly after completing the cassette, they assembled a provisional lineup to play a house show, which took place at the Pacer House in Bellingham on November 22, 1997, featuring Gibbard, Walla, Harmer, and drummer Nathan Good, a friend of Walla's. The band signed a handshake deal with local boutique label Barsuk Records—essentially a then "one-man operation" ran by founder Josh Rosenfield, a friend of the band, and of Elsinor, who remained involved. Rosenfield's goal was to establish an artist-friendly approach, with the band initially receiving a generous 80/20 share of the profits. Overseas distribution in this era was handled by several indie imprints across the globe, first Architecture Label in Australia, then Fierce Panda in the United Kingdom and Toy's Factory in Japan. You Can Play These Songs with Chords was later expanded with ten more songs and re-released in 2002 by Barsuk, alongside Gibbard's early work under the name All-Time Quarterback.
Early years (1998–2000)
The four released their debut album, Something About Airplanes, on August 18, 1998. Airplanes was created at the group's rented bungalow off of Ellis Street in Bellingham. With Walla's bedroom in the attic, the band inserted a microphone through a hole in the floor to the living room where vocals were tracked on the Tascam. It was an embryonic, anonymous time for the trio: given space to experiment and fail, they began to forge an identity though trial and error. Gibbard's singing voice is more adenoidal in tone, and his songwriting ranges from descriptive but obtuse. The album performed well locally, and led to a sold-out show in December 1998 at the Crocodile Cafe—an early highlight for the young artists..Their early years were a homespun, DIY affair: in addition to recording, Walla handled T-shirt designs, and Harmer's mother offered the band a loan on their first van, a Ford Econoline, enabling them to tour. The band slept on strangers' floors and ate mustard sandwiches to survive, with any money the band made at sparsley-attended gigs going towards fueling the van to drive to the next city. They once drove two days straight from Bellingham to Austin, Texas to make it to a South by Southwest showcase. They also dealt with lineup changes. Good departed in January 1999 to focus on personal matters. In mid-1999, the group relocated to Seattle to pursue music in earnest. It was a demanding period, with the band more spread out physically than before, bound by financial obligations in order to live in the city. The lack of a consistent percussionist hindered matters too—an interim replacement, Jayson Tolzdorf-Larson, had failed to work out—and there was the real possibility of the band splitting. They asked McGerr to step in on drums, but he declined. Though Gibbard has characterized this period in the group's biography as "interstitial" and lacking assurance of what was to come, they overall began to feel more experienced.
Underground breakthroughs (2000–02)
At the onset of the aughts, the band's work was met with increasing listenership and industry attention. Though the band were largely outsiders to the music industry, their work was supported by college radio stations and set the band on a trajectory of success. Meanwhile, the band set out to work on their second album: We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, released in 2000. Like its predecessor, it was recorded in a home environment rather than professional studio spaces, with Walla acquiring more professional recording equipment. Gibbard's songwriting began to evolve, possessing a more novelistic approach and frequently utilizing full sentences. His self-described "post-collegiate neuroses" informed its downbeat and despondent tone, leading many observers to lump the band as a part of the burgeoning emo scene. To that point, the band once considered signing to Jade Tree, the Delaware imprint that hosted many emo acts, but passed on it. By 2000, Barsuk had transformed into a company proper, shifting its profit margin with the band to a more realistic 60/40 split due to overhead expenses. The label purchased a historic studio in the city, previously known as Reciprocal, allowing Walla to manage the space, which he named Hall of Justice. It served as a recording space for the band for their next several albums, and functioned as a practice space later on.The trio had struggled to find a suitable and "competent" percussionist who would agree to tour, and settled on drummer Michael Schorr, formerly of Uncle Roscoe. Schorr made his debut on the band's next release, the follow-up The Forbidden Love EP, which began to take the band to new levels of success: they started receiving national attention, with both The Washington Post and Spin ranking the EP among its top-ten lists in 2000. The band's next effort, The Photo Album, became their biggest yet: it sold over 50,000 records at that time, and single "A Movie Script Ending", a tip to their Bellingham roots, became their first to chart and receive a music video. Despite these accomplishments, the band began suffering from internal tension. The album's creation was rushed: each band member had recently left their day jobs, with the band now their primary source of income for the first time. The group had disagreements with Schorr, and Walla—who enjoyed recording music more than performing it—was feeling exhausted by the entire experience. It culminated in a bitter fight at a tour stop in Baltimore in October 2001 where the band all but separated—one of several near break-ups that year. After commitments were complete, the band took a small hiatus, where they dedicated themselves to forging a new path forward as a band.
In February 2002, the band partnered with like-minded indie rockers the Dismemberment Plan for the well-received Death and Dismemberment tour. It marked a new moment for the burgeoning group: both bands on the cusp of success, playing mid-sized clubs than before but still connected to their roots, backpacking across the country in a van and staying at motels. The band over the years have frequently remembered the outing with fondness; Harmer and Gibbard have both called it perhaps the high-water mark of that era—the moment that taking the leap to being a full-time band paid off. That same month, the band released The Stability EP, which contained a cover of Bjork's "All Is Full of Love". Indeed, stability was to come: later that year, Harmer reconnected with McGerr. Now a successful drum instructor, McGerr viewed it the right time to join the trio, who were unsatisfied with Schorr. In October, the band entered their rehearsal space for the first time with McGerr, who remains behind the kit to this day. His addition brought balance to the lineup, with his calm demeanor settling their dynamics.
During a break in activities, Walla continued to explore his interest in recording, producing albums by the Thermals and the Decemberists. Meanwhile, Gibbard began a collaboration with electronic music artist Dntel. Their sole album, Give Up, contrasts manipulated samples and keyboards with live guitar and drums—a sound some described as "indietronica". It was released with little promotion—its creators embarked on a brief tour, but otherwise returned to their main projects. But across the 2000s, the album became an unexpected, platinum-selling sleeper hit: its singles charted internationally, and the LP was enduring presence on dance and independent charts. Its lead single, "Such Great Heights", gained major traction through radio, online buzz, and licensing deals. This experience only served to draw further attention to Gibbard's main band, and set the stage for crossover appeal.