Death Cab for Cutie is a Grammy-nominated American indie rock band, formed in Bellingham, Washington in 1997. The band consists of Benjamin Gibbard (vocals, guitar), Chris Walla (guitar, production), Nick Harmer (bass) and Jason McGerr (drums). Gibbard took the band name from the title of the song written by Neil Innes and Vivian Stanshall and performed by their group, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, in The Beatles' 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour.

Gibbard's first album, You Can Play These Songs with Chords, was released as a demo, leading to a record deal with Barsuk Records. It was at this time that Gibbard decided to expand the project into a complete band, and recruited band members to join. The band has released six studio albums, five EPs, and one demo to date. Their most recent album, Narrow Stairs, was released on May 12, 2008 in the United Kingdom and on May 13, 2008 in the United States.

Early years (1997–2004)

Death Cab for Cutie began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard while he was the guitar player for the band Pinwheel and was recording under the name All-Time Quarterback. As Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard released a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords; the release was surprisingly successful and Gibbard decided to expand the band into a complete project. He recruited Chris Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as a guitarist, Nick Harmer as bass guitarist, and Nathan Good to play drums. Death Cab for Cutie was officially formed at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, and lyrics from early songs include local references that were important to the band's development. Many of the early songs were recorded in the basement of an Ellis Street home Gibbard lived in with several roommates in Bellingham.

The four released the LP Something About Airplanes on August 18, 1998. The album was favorably reviewed in the independent music scene and in 2000 the band released We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Nathan Good left the band at some point during this album's production, replaced by Jayson Tolzdorf-Larson. Good's playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” was kept, but Gibbard played drums on all other songs. Although Tolzdorf-Larson did not contribute to the album, he did appear on the song, "Spring Break Broke" from the "Death Cab for Fiver" 7" record. He also joined the band on two tours, including their first full U.S. tour. He was later replaced by Michael Schorr who would first appear on The Forbidden Love EP, released on October 24, 2000. In 2001, another LP was released, entitled The Photo Album. Limited editions of this album contained three bonus tracks, which were later released separately as The Stability EP.

In 2003, there was yet another change of drummer, with Jason McGerr of Eureka Farm replacing Schorr. McGerr would play drums on the next release, Transatlanticism, which was released in October 2003. Tracks from the album appeared in the soundtracks of the television shows The O.C., Six Feet Under, CSI: Miami and Californication, and the films Wedding Crashers and Mean Creek. In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live EP titled The John Byrd EP, named for their sound engineer. The EP was released on Barsuk Records in March 2004.

Meet Me on the Equinox" (2009)
Main article: Meet Me on the Equinox

Death Cab for Cutie will contribute the lead single on the soundtrack for the upcoming New Moon film, the second in the Twilight series. A song written specifically for the film called "Meet Me on the Equinox" debuted on September 13 during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Singer Ben Gibbard admitted that he hadn't read all of the books in the Twilight series, and said that the song is more about his personal life than Stephenie Meyer's fictional world. Gibbard said of the song's meaning: "The song at its core is just about meeting another halfway, because life is very short, because there's only a brief period of time to really connect with people, and that it's important to recognize that." Gibbard added, "I just wanted something that kind of tonally matched the story and the scenes within the film, so they could kind of be put alongside but not be telling a narrative you're watching on the screen."
Musical style

Death Cab for Cutie's early work on You Can Play These Songs with Chords was described by Rolling Stone as "emotion through its lack of emotion". Pitchfork Media also remarked that the work on the cassette was "ultra-lo-fi". On Something About Airplanes the band's style remained similar, with some new instrumental work introduced; "flute, synth, or cello" were noted by Allmusic's Nitsuh Abebe. On We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes the band again expanded their use of unorthodox instruments, including organ and glockenspiel. Pitchfork Media called them a "gentle niche" in the current rock climate, compared with bands such as Modest Mouse and Built to Spill.

Rolling Stone reviewed Transatlanticism and commented that it contained "melodic, melancholy songs about feeling both smart and confused, hopelessly romantic but wary of love." Gibbard's voice was described as "plaintive boy-next-door" Entertainment Weekly commented on the music on Plans, saying "The lush arrangements are long on hothouse organs and pianos, but short on the squirmy guitars and squirrelly beats that, on Gibbard's best work, offset his sweet voice and borderline-maudlin poetics with a sense of emotional danger." The band's music on Plans was described by the Dallas Morning News as "a literate, whispery style, the kind of stuff that normally sounds better in headphones than in large venues".