Death Cab for Cutie is an American alternative rock band. It was founded in 1997 in Washington State. Over the years, the band has grown from a small project to one of the most exciting bands in the indie rock scene of the 2000s. They were remembered for the emotional lyrics of the songs and the unusual sound of melodies.
The guys borrowed such an unusual name from the song of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which was written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall.
Members of Death Cab for Cutie:
- Benjamin (Ben) Gibbard – lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist (1997–present), drummer (1997, 2000), bass guitarist (1997);
- Nick Harmer - bass (1997-present), backing vocals (2008-present)
- Jason McGerr - drummer (2003-present)
- Dave Depper – guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist (2016–present)
- Zac Rae – keyboardist, guitarist (2016–present)
Early years of Death Cab for Cutie (1997-2003)
Initially, the group appeared as a solo project of Ben Gibbard. He previously recorded his songs under the All-Time Quarterback name. He first used the name Death Cab for Cutie on a cassette release. Her release was successful for the performer, and Gibbard decided to expand the team. He brought in guitarist Chris Walla, bassist Nick Harmer and drummer Nathan Good.
The band was formed in Washington DC, so some of the singles contain references to their place of origin. The four released their first album Something About Airplanes in 1998. The music press praised him highly.
Soon Nathan Good left the band and was replaced by Jayson Tolzdorf-Larson. Tolzdorf-Larson was later replaced by Michael Schorr.
In 2001, Death Cab for Cutie released their third album, The Photo Album. And the song "A Movie Script Ending" reached 123 in the UK chart. In 2003, Michael Schorr replaced Jason McGerr. His first performance was with the next album "Transatlanticism", which was acclaimed by many critics. From that moment, the commercial development of Death Cab for Cutie began.
Signing of an important contract (2004-2006)
The band tried to contact several labels for a long time, but it was not until the release of their fourth album, Transatlanticism, that they managed to do so. It was he who brought some creative freedom to the performers. Jordan Kurland, the band's manager, after many negotiations, decided that the offer from Atlantic Records was the best one.
The next album "Plans" was released in 2005. It also achieved critical and commercial success. The song "I Will Follow You into the Dark" is the best-selling song so far. In 2005, Death Cab for Cutie released a DVD, copies of which were given away to promote animal welfare projects.
Death Cab for Cutie's heyday (2007-2009)
In 2007, the band members said that the next album would be unusual and not at all like the previous ones. They called it spectacular and terrifying. In some interviews, the performers mentioned that interesting surprises await the listeners.
As a result, "Narrow Stairs" (that's what this album was called) was released in 2008. One of the critics - James Montgomery said that this album can both elevate the career of performers and kill it. Ultimately, "Narrow Stairs" and the single "I Will Possess Your Heart" were nominated for 51 Grammy Awards. But, unfortunately, they did not manage to win in any of the categories.
This album reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 2008. However, according to Gibbard, these songs were the most depressing in the band's history. In 2009, the band recorded the song "Meet me on the equinox", which became the soundtrack to the second part of Stephenie Meyer's New Moon saga. Later, a clip was recorded with fragments of the film.
Time of the three most important albums (2010-2016)
Codes and Keys was released in 2011. Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer stated that this album was "less guitar oriented than the others". Also, songs about love suffering were replaced by more positive lyrics. This album was also nominated for a Grammy, but they again failed to win in this category.
In 2012, the group had a big tour in literally all countries of the world. These numerous performances added to the popularity of the already well-known indie rock band.
Rich Costey produced the eighth album especially for the guys. Intensive work and recording of songs began in 2013. Gibbard has repeatedly expressed his opinion about the new album: "I think from start to finish this record is much better than the previous album."
Chris Walla, who has been with the band since its inception, decided to leave Death Cab for Cutie in 2014. After his departure, new members appeared: Dave Depper and Zac Rae.
In 2015, the album "Kintsugi" was released, with which the group also held a long tour in several countries (it was already with new members). In 2016, the performers released the song "Million Dollar Loan". It was conceived as a protest against presidential candidate Donald Trump. The band released this single as part of the "30 days, 30 songs" campaign. For a month, every day the group released an unknown single by another artist.
2017–present
After some creative rest and fruitful work at the studio, the next album was released only in the middle of 2018. His main song was "Gold Rush".
After that, there were many announcements of the new album "The Blue EP", but despite all the promises, it was released only at the very end of 2020. In it, Death Cab for Cutie decided on some kind of experiment. The guys decided that this album will consist entirely of covers of the great composers of Georgia.
The performers promised to donate the funds received from the concerts to the Stacey Abrams organization, which was created in honor of voting for Joe Biden in the 2020 US Presidential Election. Although the band has been around for over 20 years, its members are still discovering new sounds in their songs.
