Death Cab For Cutie by Eliot Lee Hazel
Twenty-one is a milestone: A gateway in years lived to legalized drinking and gambling; and the first full turn around the sun after completing that second decade. For any person, that’s celebration enough. For a band in the modern era, it’s a miracle. Especially if your band’s moniker is a throwaway joke taken from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.
Yet here they are, alt-stalwarts Death Cab for Cutie. Twenty-one years after standing themselves up in the music-proud Pacific Northwest, they’re a model of atmospheric, meticulously made rock; a major-label act with place of pride in indie lore; and a lineup with just enough (in)stability to keep throwing off creative sparks.
In August they released “Thank You for Today,” their first full-length since the 2014 departure of a founding member, guitarist Chris Walla. With the band now fully led by another founder, singer and guitarist Ben Gibbard, “Thank You for Today” is garnering mostly positive reviews.
For Gibbard, now in his 40s, songwriting combines his trademark quasi-socio-political commentary with a middle-aged sense of patience. For a band that managed to polarize its fan base with recent recordings, this is probably the best case of damage control for possible detractors zeroing in on Walla’s lack of input.
In a recent interview with Billboard, Gibbard said the recording environment for “Thank You for Today” compared favorably to earlier studio outings. “It was very open,” Gibbard said. “I don’t want to frame this as a Chris problem. He’s a brilliant producer, [but] a lot of times we would be seeing things differently, and passive-aggressively fighting for our ideas.”
Gibbard’s bandmates today are co-founding bassist Nick Harmer, drummer since 2003 Jason McGerr, and two touring members — keyboardist Zac Rae and guitarist Dave Depper — who boarded Death Cab permanently after Walla quit.
While 21 doesn’t always denote maturity, it is time enough for some form of it to develop. Death Cab for Cutie are not a band that needs to be told to “grow up.” If anything, they look poised to step into a new chapter.
Death Cab for Cutie performs with Charly Bliss on October 22 at the Fillmore Miami Beach. PURCHASE TICKETS! deathcabforcutie.com ~ Abel Folgar
