Death Cab for cutie, 來自華盛頓柏林漢姆的四人Indie Pop樂團Death Cab for Cutie成立於1997年，默默無聞兩年之後他們簽到了獨立廠牌Barsuk（俄語獾熊的意思），並且成功的推出了三張專輯。2011年10月份發行的這張《Transatlanticism》（橫貫大西洋主義）是他們在Barsuk旗下發行的第四張錄音室作品了，不知道他能否續寫三年前專輯《We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes》的輝煌。樂隊的名字來自英國六十年代末著名迷幻樂隊The Bonzo Dog Band的處女作專輯《Gorilla》里的一首歌的名字，他們不願對此解釋過多，只說去聽聽那首歌就知道了。Death Cab for Cutie的才華在他們的首張專輯里《Something About Airplanes》里就嶄露頭角，一曲迷幻氣息濃厚的《President Of What》里的風琴和唱腔猶如The Doors的重顯就讓人們大吃一驚。可是這只是樂隊對自己過去的懷念罷了，樂隊於2000年發行的專輯《We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes》以全新的Indie Pop姿態示人，專輯中的歌曲清新饃人。
多數Death Cab for Cutie的歌都像是歌者的自述，他講的都是生活中的領悟和對未來的美好憧憬。樂隊主唱Ben Gibbard說：“我們的歌曲是真誠的，也許我們會為
丘比特的冷落而憂心忡忡，也許我們不會把痛苦和聽眾分享，但是我們只是想唱一些快樂的歌曲與別人分享。”可是不幸在2000年的夏天降臨到樂隊身上，一連串的事故讓這幾個年輕人心灰意冷，先是樂隊因為經理人的問題產生了激烈的矛盾，然後鼓手Nathan Good的離開讓樂隊幾乎解散。好在最後樂隊克服了這些矛盾，他們找來了新的鼓手Michael Schorr並且錄製了一張紀念這段經歷的EP《Forbidden Love》。2003年出版這張專輯《Transatlanticism》之前，樂隊又加入了新的成員，也許這對他們來說是一個新的開始.
| 現在成員 | Ben Gibbard Nick Harmer Jason McGerr |
| 過去成員 | Nathan Good Michael Schorr Chris Walla |
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. He recruited Christopher Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as an electric 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 many of the 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 Ben lived in with several roommates in Bellingham, and the title of the band's official fan club, DCFC Local Union #1138, references this building, along with the ¡All-Time Quarterback! song “Dinner at Eight in the Suburbs”.
The four released the LP Something About Airplanes on August 18th 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. His playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” were kept, but Gibbard played drums on all other songs.
Michael Schorr would first appear on The Forbidden Love E.P., 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 E.P.
In 2003, there was another change of drummer, with Jason McGerr of Eureka Farm replacing Schorr. McGerr would play drums on the next release, Transatlanticism.
Transatlanticism was released in October of 2003. It received critical praise and also became the band's top-selling album, with 225,000 copies sold during its first year out.[citation needed] Tracks from the album appeared in the soundtracks of television shows The O.C., Six Feet Under, and CSI:
Miami, the 2005 movies Wedding Crashers and Mean Creek.
In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live E.P. titled The John Byrd E.P., named for their sound engineer. The E.P. was released on Barsuk Records in March 2004. The album includes tracks from The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in
San Francisco, as well as other venues.
