For as much as our musical experiences converge, this one is an outlier on my timeline. I mostly missed the entire Death Cab experience. I never listened to the Postal Service album back in the day, and I know I never listened to this album when it came out either. I had absolutely no opinion of Death Cab. They were a band that existed. I was aware they existed, and that was it.
And it wasn't Plans that got me into them, either. Them moving to a major label did nothing to get them more on my radar. No, for me, it was Narrow Stairs. I don't remember why for sure, but I suspect it because it was the late 2000s when I started listening to a lot of the Sound Opinions and All Songs Considered podcasts. I'm not sure which podcast suggested it to me, but I know one of them played I Will Possess Your Heart and BAM....that's what did it for me. I fell in love with that song, I listened to Narrow Stairs a lot, and I eventually made my way to Plans and then...finally...Transatlanticism.
This is such a powerhouse of an album. I especially appreciate your point on the drummer serving these songs. That is so spot on. As always, great write up! This one was probably one of my favorites yet.
I'm just seeing your blog, I guess I'd call it, about Death Cab For Cutie and Transatlanticism. I recently returned from Rochester Hills, Michigan, where I saw the band perform at the Meadow Brook Amphitheatre to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of Transatlanticism. The Postal Service were the headliners, performing all of the songs from Give Up.
Here is a brief history of my fascination with Death Cab. There was a student who had a show on WRUW-FM, a college radio station based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her name was April and she often played tracks from We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, which was the band's most recent record at the time. I bought the CD and listened to it. I would say it was in late 2000 or early 2001. The group was touring and did a show at the Grog Shop in February 2001. You mentioned Cleveland in your article, so if you're from there you know that the Grog Shop was kind of a dump. Anyway, I attended the show and was sufficiently impressed by DCFC that I also saw them when they toured with the Dismemberment Plan.
Oddly enough, I didn't pay much attention to the Postal Service when their record came out. I knew that Ben Gibbard was part of the group, if you'd call it that. I picked up a cassette of Give Up and listened to it a few times.
Over the next decade, I continued to listen to DCFC, but family and professional obligations hindered my ability to go to shows. I did see them at the Nautica and Blossom Music Center, when they opened for the Flaming Lips. I guess I
really got back into their music following the release of Narrow Stairs.
Now let me tell you a story about 2020. By some freakish coincidence, I found out that Ben Gibbard was doing several solo shows at Thalia Hall in Chicago. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to one show before his shows sold out. I traveled to Chicago in January 2020 to see him perform. That was around the time the first cases of COVID in the U.S. were detected. Guess where they were. In Chicago. At the time, I didn't realize how serious or contagious the infection was. I think that was true for most people.
So imagine my surprise almost 2 months later to watch Ben Gibbard at home night after night during the early days of the lock down. I was sent home from my job and was confined to my house for the most part, because my car wasn't running and I was fearful about taking public transportation. In a way, he kept me sane, at least as sane as I'll ever be, and provided me with a sense of security during those uncertain times.
That's why it was important for me to see a show on their 20th anniversary tour for Transatlanticism. Also, I wanted to make damn sure I heard a live version of "We Looked Like Giants," one of my favorite DCFC songs. Somehow the band avoided playing it at their most recent shows in Columbus and Cleveland and I was not happy.
Unfortunately, I am as alone and lonely as I was 22 years ago. I'm still glad that I had the opportunity and means to be there near the beginning of Death Cab For Cutie's career, if not exactly at the beginning. I was and still remain their loyal fan.
I'm so glad I found this blog and I'm going through all the entries. Death Cab, Tool, Incubus, Hop Along, Typhoon, Thursday, Smashing Pumpkins, Manchester Orchestra, etc. are all on my list of favorite bands and I love reading the personal takes on where you were when this music hit you. I'm in the same generation and it's a great read.
Sup!
For as much as our musical experiences converge, this one is an outlier on my timeline. I mostly missed the entire Death Cab experience. I never listened to the Postal Service album back in the day, and I know I never listened to this album when it came out either. I had absolutely no opinion of Death Cab. They were a band that existed. I was aware they existed, and that was it.
And it wasn't Plans that got me into them, either. Them moving to a major label did nothing to get them more on my radar. No, for me, it was Narrow Stairs. I don't remember why for sure, but I suspect it because it was the late 2000s when I started listening to a lot of the Sound Opinions and All Songs Considered podcasts. I'm not sure which podcast suggested it to me, but I know one of them played I Will Possess Your Heart and BAM....that's what did it for me. I fell in love with that song, I listened to Narrow Stairs a lot, and I eventually made my way to Plans and then...finally...Transatlanticism.
This is such a powerhouse of an album. I especially appreciate your point on the drummer serving these songs. That is so spot on. As always, great write up! This one was probably one of my favorites yet.
I'm just seeing your blog, I guess I'd call it, about Death Cab For Cutie and Transatlanticism. I recently returned from Rochester Hills, Michigan, where I saw the band perform at the Meadow Brook Amphitheatre to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the release of Transatlanticism. The Postal Service were the headliners, performing all of the songs from Give Up.
Here is a brief history of my fascination with Death Cab. There was a student who had a show on WRUW-FM, a college radio station based in Cleveland, Ohio. Her name was April and she often played tracks from We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, which was the band's most recent record at the time. I bought the CD and listened to it. I would say it was in late 2000 or early 2001. The group was touring and did a show at the Grog Shop in February 2001. You mentioned Cleveland in your article, so if you're from there you know that the Grog Shop was kind of a dump. Anyway, I attended the show and was sufficiently impressed by DCFC that I also saw them when they toured with the Dismemberment Plan.
Oddly enough, I didn't pay much attention to the Postal Service when their record came out. I knew that Ben Gibbard was part of the group, if you'd call it that. I picked up a cassette of Give Up and listened to it a few times.
Over the next decade, I continued to listen to DCFC, but family and professional obligations hindered my ability to go to shows. I did see them at the Nautica and Blossom Music Center, when they opened for the Flaming Lips. I guess I
really got back into their music following the release of Narrow Stairs.
Now let me tell you a story about 2020. By some freakish coincidence, I found out that Ben Gibbard was doing several solo shows at Thalia Hall in Chicago. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to one show before his shows sold out. I traveled to Chicago in January 2020 to see him perform. That was around the time the first cases of COVID in the U.S. were detected. Guess where they were. In Chicago. At the time, I didn't realize how serious or contagious the infection was. I think that was true for most people.
So imagine my surprise almost 2 months later to watch Ben Gibbard at home night after night during the early days of the lock down. I was sent home from my job and was confined to my house for the most part, because my car wasn't running and I was fearful about taking public transportation. In a way, he kept me sane, at least as sane as I'll ever be, and provided me with a sense of security during those uncertain times.
That's why it was important for me to see a show on their 20th anniversary tour for Transatlanticism. Also, I wanted to make damn sure I heard a live version of "We Looked Like Giants," one of my favorite DCFC songs. Somehow the band avoided playing it at their most recent shows in Columbus and Cleveland and I was not happy.
Unfortunately, I am as alone and lonely as I was 22 years ago. I'm still glad that I had the opportunity and means to be there near the beginning of Death Cab For Cutie's career, if not exactly at the beginning. I was and still remain their loyal fan.
I'm so glad I found this blog and I'm going through all the entries. Death Cab, Tool, Incubus, Hop Along, Typhoon, Thursday, Smashing Pumpkins, Manchester Orchestra, etc. are all on my list of favorite bands and I love reading the personal takes on where you were when this music hit you. I'm in the same generation and it's a great read.