Seattle, WA · indie rock

Death Cab for Cutie

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Indie rock's tender institution — twenty-five years of songs that hurt nicely, from 'Transatlanticism' devastation to elder-statesman grace.

Death Cab for Cutie took shape in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997, when Ben Gibbard was writing songs he felt didn't fit his pop-punk outfit Pinwheel. Bassist Nick Harmer, who booked shows on campus, and guitarist Chris Walla, who offered to record demos on a reel-to-reel machine, rounded out the founding lineup. The band's name comes from a Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band song Gibbard admired.

Their sound rests on Gibbard's plainspoken, detail-heavy lyrics and a clean, melodic guitar-pop framework, refined across early records like Something About Airplanes, We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, and The Photo Album, with Walla producing. The arrangements have ranged from lo-fi indie rock to fuller, more layered studio work.

Transatlanticism, released in 2003, remains their best-known record and helped move the band from independent releases to a major label. Plans followed in 2005 as their major-label debut, and together the two albums helped carry indie rock into wider mainstream attention. Gibbard has also recorded as half of the electronic pop duo The Postal Service.

Narrow Stairs, released in 2008, reached the top of the album charts, and Codes and Keys followed in 2011 with a further shift in sound. Walla, who had produced and played guitar since the beginning, left the band before Kintsugi came out in 2015.

The group has continued releasing albums and touring with Gibbard as the constant member through several lineup changes, issuing Thank You for Today in 2018, Asphalt Meadows in 2022, and I Built You a Tower in 2026. The current lineup includes Harmer, Dave Depper, Zac Rae, and Jason McGerr.

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indie rock