Death Cab for Cutie

Death Cab for Cutie epitomizes the indie act signing to major a label and trying in earnest to maintain their credibility as an act outside mainstream rock. Getting their start as Ben Gibbard’s Bellingham based solo project (then named All Time Quarterback), Death Cab has since soft-rocked the vote with Bruce Springsteen, accompanied primetime television on The O.C., sallied their way off Barsuk Records and signed to Atlantic in 2004.

Their first major-label album and seventh overall, Plans, went platinum. For their follow-up release, Narrow Stairs, a darker, more brooding record than the previous effort, maintains their patented melodic style while still pushing Gibbard and company forward into uncharted musical territory. The group has always found a way to dance around the “emo” label, consistently filling their albums with notes of emotive, lovesick melancholy while eschewing a whiny, cliché delivery for a mellifluous arrangement that avoids saccharine. At the core of the sound lie Chris Walla’s ever-impressive production skills, adding swirls and ambiance like a bartender’s sweetly muddled and garnished mojito

The first single, “I Will Possess Your Heart,” is a sprawling epic of a haunting pop song, easing into a catchy refrain and Ben Gibbard’s crooning. At over eight minutes, it’s also a steadfast reminder that Atlantic Records doesn’t possess the artistic direction of the group, a reassuring fact for fans grown weary of bands fizzling once they’re thrust into the limelight. “You Can Do Better Than Me” is typical Death Cab—a dire love song that is as creepy and sad as it is beautifully crafted. “You can do better than me / but I can’t do better than you,” sings Gibbard. It glimmers with truth and dreariness, and classic Gibbard lyricism.

Live, Death Cab pours everything they’ve got into performing, tearing into what were once cute, little pop songs and transforming them into all-out rockers. No better place to do that the sprawling amphitheater of the Gorge, Washington. Look for them as part of the Sasquatch Music festival, May 25th alongside a host of other indie success stories, though they’ll probably be the only ones from Bellingham.