The Death Cab For Cutie has been referenced several times on The O.C. . They are Seth Cohen's favorite band, and was included in "The Seth Cohen Starter Pack". He also has a poster of them on his wall. Their music has been featured on the show multiple times, and the band eventually appeared on the show when they held a concert at The Bait Shop.
Band History[]
Death Cab for Cutie formed in 1997. The band takes its name from a satirical song performed by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band on their 1967 album Gorilla. The song was also performed in a striptease act in The Beatles' film Magical Mystery Tour.
Death Cab for Cutie began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard while he was the guitar player for the band Pinwheel. 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.
In 2003, they released Transatlanticism. Transatlanticism received critical praise and also became the band's top-selling album, with 225,000 copies sold during its first year out. In addition, tracks from the album appeared in the soundtrack of Six Feet Under and the 2005 movie The Wedding Crashers.
In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live album titled The John Byrd E.P. The E.P. was released on Barsuk Records in March of 2005.
In November, 2004 Death Cab for Cutie signed a "long-term worldwide deal" with Atlantic Records, leaving their long-time label Barsuk Records and the rank of indie record labels. Gibbard stated on the official website that nothing would change except that "Next to the picture of Barsuk holding a 7", there will be the letter "A" on both the spine and back of our upcoming albums."
The first and second singles off the band's Atlantic Record release Plans were "Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth", respectively. The full album was released in August of 2005. Plans was well-acclaimed by critics and fans, and received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album of 2005.
The band released a touring DVD called Drive Well, Sleep Carefully in 2005.
The band's song "Photobooth," is featured in the soundtrack of the Xbox 360 racing game Project Gotham Racing 3.
In early 2006, the band announced the upcoming release of Directions, eleven short films inspired by songs from the Plans album, each directed by a different person. The videos were posted one at a time at the band's website and the DVD went on sale April 11, 2006. The iTunes Music Store began selling the videos (formatted for the iPod) early on March 28, 2006. Lance Bangs, P.R. Brown, Ace Norton, Jeffrey Brown, Lightborne, Autumn de Wilde, Rob Schrab, Laurent Briet and Monkmus, as well as Aaron Stewart-Ahn are among directors that have contributed to the project. An episode of MTV2's Subterranean played these videos for the whole hour plus discussion with members of the band.
Musical Appearances[]
External Links[]
- Article on their appearance
- Death Cab for Cutie · Official site
- Barsuk Records · Former Record Label
- Death Cab for Cutie at the SoundtrackINFO project
- Death Cab For Cutie Tour History
- Death Cab for Cutie Lyrics
- Death Cab for Cutie 2006 Tour Mapped on Platial.
- Collection of Tabs and Chords
- A collection of Death Cab album reviews
- "Movin' on Up (Without Sellin' on Out)", PopMatters interview (10/2005)
- Death Cab For Cutie articles at This Is Fake DIY
- Interview at Brian M. Palmer