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Livewire's One on One
By Andy Argyrakis
Publicity photos
Death Cab For Cutie Death Cab For Cutie chats about its arena-sized indie rock

"One on One"
August 22, 2011


Back when Death Cab For Cutie was only known on the underground, its annual Chicago stomping grounds was the venerable Metro. Though the Washington indie rockers have since graduated to headlining arenas and festivals (including an August 25 area appearance at UIC Pavilion), its trip in May served as a showcase for material from the new Codes and Keys (Atlantic) and a chance for the band to reconnect with its roots.

"I think that whole tour was kind of an underplay tour or some would call it a warm up tour," suggests guitarist/keyboardist/producer Chris Walla of the band's recent venture. "It was really a nice chance for us to get back to some of our favorite places because all of our favorite venues hold around 700-1,300 people. We've spent more time playing in venues like Metro and those like it all over the country than any other size club. It was a good opportunity to field test the new songs and play a bunch of the old songs to remember what it was like to be a rock n' roll band."

In the three years since the group's last full-length album, members have been busy with a multitude of projects, from 2009's The Open Door EP to a slot on the The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack and a slew of personal endeavors. Most visibly, front man Ben Gibbard tied the knot with actress Zooey Deschanel (Yes Man and 500 Days of Summer), while Walla used the hiatus to produce projects by The Lonely Forest, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, The Thermals and The Tragically Hip's Gordon Downie.

"I've learned how to balance [both worlds] by not being in a relationship, which is the shortest and easier answer," he lets out with a laugh. "It's pathetic and sad, but between the band and being a producer, I live two semi-monastic lifestyles. I'm kind of a process hound these days since everything happens with such immediacy in the world of computers. [With Codes and Keys] I really wanted to try and slow down the process and take the impulsivity out and put the consideration in. In the process of doing that, it required a kind of removing the electric guitars from the first part of the record making process and focusing on making melodic and harmonic beds Death Cab For Cutieout of instruments that don't want to make melodic or harmonic beds. We made sure that we weren't committing to anything too quickly. That was our biggest goal, to change all the tools in the tool box and give it a different perspective of how and why we were committing to songs for a record. It's more of a record than a recording."

Just take a listen to the delicate, shoegazing nature of new cuts like "Some Boys" and "Underneath the Sycamore," which find the group's already close chemistry clamping down even tighter. Add in the chilling and sublime soundscapes of "You Are a Tourist" and "Portable Television" with the aggressive shades of "Doors Unlocked and Open" and the methodical approach certainly paid off. The eleven track journey also benefits from a plethora of warm harmonies and lyrics that longtime listeners are likely to find relatable, even if they're sometimes inspired from second hand sources.

"I think [Ben's marriage] is a huge part of the record, but it's not all of the record," notices Walla of Death Cab's primary lyricist. "They're certainly not all autobiographical even though he's writing from the perspective of characters. It's easy to assume with a singer/songwriter that when he says 'I,' he means 'I the writer' even though that's not an assumption you'd make about an actor in a film or if you were writing a story. I'd say [he's coming from a personal place] 30% of the time and 70% of the time it's not so literal."

Continues Walla: Codes and Keys means a lot of different things. It sort of ties into the process of making the record- the idea of access and immediacy being behind a string of numbers, followed by the pound key. It's so much of our lives, whether we enter a code before we access our bank account, our cell phone account, our storage locker or our apartment. It's a protective barrier, but it's also a door. The pound key is kind of like the thing that gets you through a lack of human interaction into a place that resembles home or something you need to have access to make your home a little bit better."

For the rest of this summer, the guys won't be spending any time at home as the Codes and Keys tour makes a second sweep across the States to unveil the band's latest round of thought-provoking themes and warm sounds. Though an arena presentation will never be able to make up for the intimacy of a club, there are a few advantages during this leg, including a tighter sound and longer set list.

"Even though the Metro show was great, it was a little ramshackle in spots, but we're certainly playing everything better at this point," contends Walla. "By the time we come back to Chicago, I think we'll be doing a few more old songs and also a few more from the new record."

Death Cab For Cutie appears at UIC Pavilion on Thursday, August 25. For additional details, visit www.ticketmaster.com.and www.jamusa.com.

Related articles:

Death Cab for Cutie - Concert review - Chicago, IL - May 2011
Death Cab for Cutie - Concert review - Milwaukee, WI - April 2009
Death Cab for Cutie / Jack's Mannequin - Concert review - Milwaukee, WI - December 2008
Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs album review - July 2008
Death Cab for Cutie - Concert review - Milwaukee, WI - November 2006
Death Cab for Cutie - Lollapalooza Festival review - Chicago, IL - August 2006
Death Cab for Cutie - Plans album review - October 2005
Death Cab for Cutie - Summerfest Festival review - Milwaukee, WI - July 2005

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