This post is about Death Cab For Cutie, one of my personal favorites. Their music appeals to me no matter what mood I am in. They also create the ultimate love songs if you're into that ooey gooey crap. So, to learn more we go back to the beginning. OOH. AAH. O.k, we're there. So, when (the majority) if the class was about one year old, the band got together. And for those who can't do math that's 1997. Death Cab For Cutie originally began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard who was lead guitarist of the band Pinwheel at the time. Ben was recording under the alias All-Time Quarterback. Not too sure why, but I suppose that was a cool thing to do in the eighties. Ben Gibbard released a cassette titled "You Can Play These Songs With Chords" and because it was the eighties, everyone bought music especially in the ancient form of cassettes and it was successful. Out of this successful cassette, a band was born. This band was Death Cab For Cutie, and recruited his band. One of them was Chris Walla, who also worked on the cassette (no skewered...maybe) and became lead guitarist for the band. Nick Harmer became the bass player and Nathan Good played the drums. After the sugar, spice and everything nice with a pinch of chemical X Death Cab for Cutie officially became a band out of Bellingham, Washington. Fun Fact: They all went to Western Washington University, so who said you can't have fun in Uni? Also, I think it's slightly funny they wasted money on degrees they'll never use because the band took off. Most of their early songs were recorded in a-oh what a surprise- Gibbard's basement. So far this blog is starting to sound like a fairy tale because this whole thing is so cliche. I often wonder as I'm writing this if this really was how the band got together because it sounds so fake. Maybe it was some sick joke they unleashed onto the internets to watch poor blogger like falsely write about them. Oh well. Anyways, back to the main story. So blah blah blah, still in the early years of the band, blah. So in the early years, they released an LP. Also some notable stuff that happened, Good left the band and was replaced by Jayson Tolzdorf-Larson during the production of first album We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. The new guy with the weird and difficult last name was later on replaced by another guy with a difficulty last name when they released their EP The Forbidden Love.
Just for names sake his name was Michael Schorr. A little into the future and the band released another LP. P.s sorry if this is short and sweet, this is only the bands beginning and I have a lot of ground to cover. Or should is say pixels ;) *wink wink*. In 98' they met their long term manager Jordan Kurland (Thank god one person is solid in this story...maybe). OK, so the band has made it 2003. Pretty good for a band with a constantly changing drummer. By this time the band was getting a lot of popularity especially on the Indie music scene. But then, oh what a surprise *insert understanding of sarcasm here*, another drummer. His name was Jason McGerr. And again, this is for names sake only because I'm really starting to doubt the importance of listing the drummers names. Well, McGerr turned out to be pretty damn important since he was on the Transatlanticism album released by the band in October of 2003. Songs from the album were on shows like CSI: Miami, The O.C and Californication. The tracks also made it into films like Easy A and Wedding Crashers.
Whew. Ok that was only just the beginning! For your sake, I'm going to be splitting it into a two-part blogging series because that was a lot to digest already. Here's a picture of the band currently, and I will also be linking some music down below as per usual. Can you guess which one I love the most?
Death Of An Interior Decorator by Death Cab For Cutie
http://www.huskyindenial.com/music/share/deathcab/trans/09%20Death%20of%20an%20Interior%20Decorator.mp3
I Will Follow You Into The Dark by Death Cab For Cutie
http://a.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo6dv3vLCb1qdcjz4o1.mp3
Talking Bird by Death Cab For Cutie
http://a.tumblr.com/tumblr_kw3au43gPv1qa2h81o1.mp3
I have definitely heard of Death Cab For Cutie. Do you notice a difference in their music from one drummer to another?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I haven't noticed a difference. I love them no matter what drummer they have :P And they seem to be a pretty popular band, but as one of my faves. they have earned their spot on my blog! Even with their super long history...
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a band that I've heard of too - maybe it's cause their name is so memorable? I'm starting to sense a pattern here: Band members seem to come and go in all the bands you've blogged about thus far, why do you think that is?
ReplyDeleteMaking a band is easy (maybe not so easy for Dear and the Headlights), keeping it together is hard. It's like relationships, people change and sometimes it's just not meant to be. I'm pretty sure it is a proven fact that drummers are the hardest to keep and happy, and evidentally in this story it seems to be true. I couldn't tell you why some of these bands don't stay together, all I can say is that people change and so does what they want in life. perhaps fame gets to them, or money or even drugs in Jonny Craig's case.
DeleteI've heard of this band as well. You seem to dislike the 'romantic' songs. Is there any particular reason for this?
ReplyDeleteHey Tina, I'm not too sure what you mean when you say I dislike 'romantic songs' xD Almost all of DCFC songs are romantic. "Death Of An Interior Decorator" is about a woman who gets divorced with her husband after having three children and she grows old and has to watch him get married again. Not really like romantic, but it deals with love. "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" is about a couple in their old age and the wife is sick, and the husband is basically saying that when you go I'll be there with you. "Talking Bird" is about a couple, and the boyfriend see's that his girlfriend is having mixed feelings about their relationship and she has to make some decisions. The boyfriend is comparing her to a bird who he is willing to let go if he has to. She thinks she is stuck with him when he is saying he is willing to let her go and that she should be happy if thats what she wants, and that either way he's going to be there for her. Yeah... I love romance. My boyfriend hates romantic songs though so you're close :)
Delete