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by Lauren Gitlin
Yes, we all agree it's a weird name. And no, the members of Death Cab For Cutie (Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla, Nicolas Harner, and Jason McGerr) were not, contrary to popular opinion, in the hearse business prior to their breakout musical success. For those curious about the band's moniker, it's an obscure rock & roll reference to the '60s British band the Bonzo Dog Band. Now you know.
But really, with songs this good, who cares about their borderline morbid name? With the ever-rising popularity of their latest album, "Transatlanticism," released in October of 2003, Death Cab has become synonymous with gut-wrenchingly beautiful ballads about love, loss, distance, and longing. Take the rhythmic, bittersweet "Tiny Vessels," which manages to turn a one-night stand into a gorgeous, poignant poem.
Indeed, each song could well stand alone as a self-contained work of literature, from the lyrical "We Looked Like Giants" to the title track, which builds a creation myth out of a long distance love affair. "If there's single thread [in the music], it's the human condition-love or lack of love. It's the subject of 90% of songs ever written," says Gibbard. "It seems like nobody will ever figure out every way to say ‘I love you,' or ‘I don't love you.'"
The foursome from the Pacific Northwest-Washington state to be exact-may still be recruiting new fans but they've been churning out albums since 1997. In fact, "Transatlanticism" was actually their fourth full-length album. Obviously, just another "overnight" success.
The band was originally Gibbard's brainchild, and though he still sketches the bare bones of each highly personal song, he relies on his fellow bandmates to bring it all home. "I'm in a band with three brilliant musicians and I'm very excited to see what they do with the things I bring to them," he says. |
