Pop Quiz: Death Cab for Cutie

Pop Quiz: Death Cab for Cutie

Aidin Vaziri | Death Cab for Cutie might be best known for providing just the right tune at the right moment for TV shows like "The O.C." and "Six Feet Under," but the Bellingham, Wash., group has been writing the soundtrack for numerous real-life scenes since 1997, when it was just a front for singer-guitarist Ben Gibbard (also the man behind the electro-pop side project the Postal Service). After four buzz-generating independent albums, the band made the major-label leap with its latest CD, "Plans," and a dreamy pop single, "Soul Meets Body," that's perfect for your own personal crying scene.


Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie
Q: Is Death Cab for Cutie on a mission to make lite rock cool again?
A: What's really at the core of what we're doing right now is to try to bring back that smooth, early- to mid-'70s soft-rock style that was all over radio. We also want to bring AM radio back. We want to make it a viable bandwidth again.
Q: Every band needs a good cause like that.
A: There are a lot of soft-rock bands that hide behind the guise of indie, like Belle & Sebastian and Kings of Convenience. We're all purveyors of this movement.
Q: If Kings of Convenience are the new Simon & Garfunkel, what does that make Death Cab for Cutie?
A: We're more the Paul Simon solo era.
Q: But you haven't even gone to Africa.
A: That's true. We haven't been dredging the depths of Africa for our musical palette. When our creative well runs dry, we'll just go and drain somebody else's. The problem is, Paul Simon already pillaged Africa, pillaged South America and made a couple of really great records -- but what continent can we go to? I think the only continent that we have to pillage from is Antarctica. I don't think they even necessarily make music down there.