Death Cab For Cutie are survivors. Survivors of the late 1990s indie-rock boom, survivors of gruelling touring schedules that would make most bands blanch, survivors of The O.C. adulation.
But to label the four-piece as merely survivors does them a grave injustice. Where others have fallen by the wayside, more still have tread ground. But not Death Cab. Instead, they’ve forged forward, exploring new territories, along the way signing to a major label. Their latest release Narrow Stairs is the second fruits of said endeavour, and their sixth studio album overall. Recorded, once again, with multi-instrumentalist (although he mainly seems to play guitar on this album) Chris Walla in his home studio, the album is a more muscular affair than the fragile Plans, where experimentation was rife, and the sonic palette rich and varied. By comparison, Narrow Stairs is a wicked about-face, returning the group to being a group steeped in indie rock. They threw a curveball from the off, selecting eight-minute long I Will Possess Your Heart as the first single.
But that’s just the Death Cab For Cutie way for you. They’ve always done things their own way, and on their own terms. Where most bands would’ve leapt at the chance to sign to a major label, Death Cab eschewed such opportunities until they’d released four albums on Barsuk Records (with distribution by the wonderful Architecture Label in Australia), each more successful than the last. It allowed them to control their own destiny when it came time to sign with Atlantic in 2004.
Perhaps if they had signed on the dotted line in 1998, in the wake of debut Something About Airplanes, there wouldn’t be a Death Cab For Cutie anymore. And that would be a real shame. They certainly wouldn’t be able to make albums as diverse as Plans and Narrow Stairs on a major label as their first two records.
“There’s no question about it,” confirms frontman Ben Gibbard. “If Plans was our first record I don’t think we could’ve jumped to what Narrow Stairs ended up to be. It was a very different time [when Death Cab were starting out]. The biggest indie rock bands maybe sold 50,000 records. Maybe. It’s been such a hoot to see a lot of the bands that we’ve seen throughout the years who’ve continued to sell more and more records independently while the music industry is – apparently – falling apart as we speak.
“The only reason we were able to make a record like Plans is because we had sold 300,000 records on Barsuk,” he continues. “And the only reason we were able to make Narrow Stairs the way we made Narrow Stairs is because we sold a million copies of Plans.”
It’s hard to countenance – Death Cab For Cutie a platinum-seller in the United States? Impossible! They’re the precious little band who many existing fans discovered through word of mouth, through hearing a tune like The New Year from Transatlanticism or The Photo Album’s Styrofoam Plates and thought “who is THAT?”. They’re a group that fans hold dear to their heart, not a favourite of all and sundry, right?
“It’s as weird to me as it is to you – probably more so,” Ben agrees with a chuckle.
It’s also really exciting to see a band like Death Cab For Cutie have the development that they’ve had – and not just in terms of selling records and gaining fans, but in honing their craft and advancing their songwriting. The expression of the band as artists is incredible – to listen to Gibbard sing on We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes when contrasted to Narrow Stairs is to hear someone who has grown incredibly confident and comfortable with who he is as a singer, songwriter, and a performer. It’s been a tremendous leap forward.
“I sometimes put those old records on – to reference a song or see how I played something – and it’s weird because the songs, all those old tunes, they live in the live spectrum now to such an extent that I feel like I’m listening to a different band when I put those old records on. In a way we were a very different band to how we are now. But when I go back to how I was writing lyrics – and how I thought I was being incredibly verbose and very descriptive – and I think, ‘What was I trying to say here?’. I know the images in my mind, but they don’t translate very well to the way that I write now.”
The vibe around Death Cab For Cutie, with the release of Narrow Stairs, is that they’re in a unique position of calling all the shots in their career, and yet still being an absolute priority for the label. There’s a sense that this album could propel them into the stratosphere. The album is that good, and the songs so brilliant, that they’re in the position where they very well could become a major success, and end 2008 as one of the biggest rock bands in the world. It feels like they’re on the cusp of being a group that matters.
“There’s been a couple of bits of press that have floated out that have said that – that this record could be the one that takes us ‘there’, or whatever,” Ben muses. “But I wouldn’t even know what that would feel like, or look like. Seriously! I don’t feel any different – I don’t get recognised any more on the street [than before]. I’m not really so convinced that we have the ability to be a band at that level – that what we’re doing musically could connect on the same level as a U2 or a Coldplay.
“I don’t mean that in any slight to either of those bands – I really like both those bands and U2 is one of my favourite bands ever,” he clarifies, “but I’ve never thought of us as having the ability to be ‘rock stars’.”
Indeed – it’s almost like they’re the band who are anti-rock stars. They’re decidedly normal, Joe Blow folks, who just happen to make some of the most beguiling rock music in the world.
“We’ve always felt like some sort of under-dog,” Ben says. “None of us have ever taken it with a sense of entitlement – like it was always coming and now it’s here – and I feel so fortunate that this band has been able to achieve the things it has been able to achieve. I feel so honoured that somebody in the stratosphere has plucked us out of this field of bands and allowed us to continue what we’re doing.”
Death Cab For Cutie’s Narrow Stairs is available now, with the band hoping to tour Australia later in 2008.
