Talk:Death Cab for Cutie

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Good article Death Cab for Cutie has been listed as one of the Arts good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can delist it, or ask for a reassessment.
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[edit] best thing to happen to indie music

"Death Cab for Cutie ......is widely considered to be the best thing to happen to indie music thus far. "

This may be the most unencyclopedic statement in this article thus far. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.123.125.146 (talk) 04:07, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Moving the page

The band is far more popular than the song that takes its name, as evidenced by the fact that practically all the links are for the band. It belongs there.AaronSw 00:14, 25 July 2005 (UTC)

Moved. violet/riga (t) 18:13, 4 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Contradictions

The paragraph that begins "In November, 2004 Death Cab for Cutie signed a 'long-term worldwide deal' with Atlantic Records..." seems to contradict itself. It should be rewritten or corrected. --anon

How so? — The Storm Surfer 30 June 2005 18:05 (UTC)

[edit] Summary of changes I made on 16 August 2004

  • "Nick Harmer" changed to "Nicholas Harmer" and made a link. He is credited as Nicholas on 'Airplanes' and 'Photo'.
  • Maybe "LP" should be a link?
  • "Forbidden Love EP" changed to "The Forbidden Love E.P." and made a link. The cover says "the death cab for cutie forbidden love e.p." but "death cab for cutie" and "e.p." are in white while "the" and "forbidden love" are in black. I guess maybe the title should be "The Forbidden Love"... who knows?
It's labeled as Forbidden Love [EP] on Gracenote CDDB, which is generally considered to be the deciding factor on these things.
Why did Meeler posted this in copyright problems if he had posted it?- Anon. Needed to revert it back.
The text seemed essentially lifted from the Allmusic profile; the phrasing and wording were largely the same in early versions. Thus, it could be a copyright violation; see Wikipedia:Copyrights. Thanks, Meelar (talk) 09:38, Apr 11, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Information

I visited the page hoping to learn more about the band and did just that. But I still haven't any idea what type of music they play. Could someone knowledgeable include this in the entry? I do realise it's difficult to place them in one genre but would really improve the entry's overall quality...

  • Well, the first paragraph of the article refers to Death Cab as an indie rock band, which might be the most descriptive the article can get. Would some comparisons to other bands help? I'm not certain that anything else can be done. - Jersyko talk 15:09, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
  • Indie rock is probably best for now. Otherwise we'll have pages of discussion debating bands for comparison...and after listening to the band, I must confess they are difficult to categorise. - Jeffrey King talk 12:13, 14 October 2005 (EST)
  • Someone recently changed DCFC from indie rock to rock and I for one support this. I like the band a lot and have for years, but now that they're on Atlantic it's pretty hard to argue that they're indie. If someone wants to rewrite to reflect that their categorization is debatable that would probably help to stem an edit war (battle? skirmish?).--Hraefen 19:19, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
    • I don't have a problem with this characterization. I would caution, however, that the signing of a band with a major label does not always indicate that the band is no longer indie. I would certainly argue that bands like Built to Spill and Modest Mouse are still solidly indie rock bands. While indie rock is difficult to define, I think that with the release of Plans, one could convincingly argue that DCFC is no longer an indie rock band, nonetheless. - Jersyko talk 20:14, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
There's an ungodly long debate taking place is Talk:The Decemberists about this very subject. The majority opinion seems to be that the term "indie rock" has come to refer to a style of music, independent of a band's label affiliation. --djrobgordon 02:16, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Band name...

could somone cite their sources? Could have sworn the Beatles were first to use the name... when did "Gorilla" come out in relation to MMT?

Bands Origin For some reason I thought that the band were from Seattle and the liner notes on the albums seem to suggest this. Also I am sure that Gibbard was born in Seattle from an interview in the Rolling STone. Correct me please...

>>Yes they are from Seattle, at concerts they announce themselves as "We are Death Cab for Cuite from Seattle".

[edit] Bands Destination

When Death cab played at the Carling Academy Brixton on the night of June 28th, the lead singer announced that this would be their last gig as Death Cab for Cutie as they were all joinging Babyshambles. Any confirmation?

  • This definitely sounds like Ben Gibbard having a little fun. I wouldn't take it too seriously.--Hraefen 15:15, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

I was there; it was blatently a joke. It was referring to the contrast between Death Cab and Babyshambles. Not only that, but the official website is the same, and they had other gigs after that billed as Death Cab for Cutie, and they all laughed afterwards. He paused after 'last gig...' and everyone in the audience were shocked and then he continued and they all laughed. Srxcef 19:41, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changes for post indie Death Cab

In November, 2004 Death Cab for Cutie signed a "long-term worldwide deal" with Atlantic Records, leaving their long-time label Barsuk Records and the rank of indie record labels. Gibbard stated on the official website that nothing would change except that "Next to the picture of Barsuk holding a 7", there will be the letter "A" on both the spine and back of our upcoming albums."

One significant change was that their latest album Plans was only sold through sites that use some form of DRM. When they were with barsuk all of their albums were sold throught sites like emusic and audiolunchbox (which offer mp3s). This was the first of their albums not to be offered in this format.

When I went back to look it seems that their entire discography has been pulled from both of those sites. This was not the case as late as the launch of Plans. Makes me wonder if atlantic now has distro rights on all of their music (as this fits with the plans release). Or has barsuk changed their online distro policy also. Regardless I think the fact that Plans was not sold online in a non DRMed format significant enough to be mensioned after that part of the the article because obviously it is not just a 'A' printed on their album. -- eSavior

I emailed Barsuk records about why the discography was pulled from audiolunchbox and Van Riker said that Barsuk never distributed on emusic and as for audiolunchbox "Audio Lunchbox changed to a subscription service from a simple download service which is why we are no longer up with them." So the answer to second paragraph in my original Changes for post indie Death Cab was that Barsuk has not changed their online distro policy but that audiolunchbox has changed its service format which is now at odds with their policy. I emailed Mr. Riker back asking if Barsuk still distributed its music under a unencumbered format and I am now waiting on his responce. -- eSavior, 26 September 2006

Mr. Riker informs with that they will soon be selling through http://insound.com which offers music in mpeg layer 3 format.

[edit] UK singles chart history

I checked Everyhit.com and there is no mention of the band ever having a UK top 40 hit. can someone sort this out please?




I second this.

[edit] Emo?

So how is it figured that Transatlanticism represents some sort of change to Emo? — The Storm Surfer 05:52, 7 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Link Added

I just added a link to Ben Gibbard's MOG page, which shows all the music he listens to and has blog posts about a couple of his favorite artists. He just joined MOG and plans to be posting there regularly, so I figured the link would be useful to Death Cab fans. Questions about this, drop me a line... JessMOG, 11 November 2006

[edit] Barsuk Treats Vol. 1?

Can anyone confirm this actually exists? I haven't been able to find it referenced anywhere aside from here on wikipedia. It doesn't appear on the DCFC or Barsuk websites. Here it redirects to an obviously unrelated "Roller Coaster (Album)." The only other references online are obviously stolen from here. I'm inclined to believe it doesn't exist. If anyone can dispute that they need to create content for the page, until then I think the link needs to go. YoMamma568 02:27, 6 January 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Genre

They should be considered Emo, not indie rock since they are signed to a Major record label... —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.186.214.78 (talk • contribs).

Erm, indie rock band Built to Spill has been signed to a major label for a decade, and they're certainly not emo. · j e r s y k o talk · 01:10, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Weird code

On the reference section, there is some strange code. I'm sort of a noob, so you may want to check it out and fix it :)

^ http://www.deathcabforcutie.com/[1]

Reference #5


Artoonie 01:22, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] namechecking

According to the namechecking article (which has its own problems), namechecking is mentioning a name in song lyrics (or a film [!?]) but it doesn't say anything about television shows. Assuming Death Cab actually was mentioned on Ugly Betty, why aren't we just saying that they were mentioned? (I'll hold off for the moment on whether or not the mention is worth mentioning.) — The Storm Surfer 01:44, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:DeathCabSomething.jpg

Image:DeathCabSomething.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 00:27, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Fair use rationale for Image:DeathCabPhotoAlbum.jpg

Image:DeathCabPhotoAlbum.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in Wikipedia articles constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 00:27, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] for/For

Their website uses a capitalized "For", so this should be moved? Or no? Milto LOL pia 16:07, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it should all be lowercase, as that is how it appears on all of their album covers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.190.49.165 (talk) 03:37, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Brothers On a Hotel Bed

Never been a single

[edit] Image

Is that really the best image of the band that we have? Don't they have some sort of promotional image we could use? Cause really, that picture sucks as a main picture. bob rulz (talk) 06:16, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Explanation of members

I think it would be good to give a summary of the current members and their role(s) in the band. Perhaps this could go at the beginning of the article. This seems to be an element that is pretty much standard on other band pages, but it's missing here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Albotros64 (talk • contribs) 03:55, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] GAN on hold

(version reviewed)

  • "For the song that inspired the band's name, see Death Cab for Cutie (song)." - you should mention who it's by
  • Lead has no mention of side projects etc.
  • "Ellis Street home Ben lived in" - refer to them using surnames throughout
  • "His playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” were kept" - change were to was, I think
  • "next release, Transatlanticism.[4] Transatlanticism was released in October of 2003" - merge these sentences...reads poorly otherwise
  • "Plans was somewhat well-acclaimed by critics and fans" - how was it somewhat? And any sources/examples or reviews/anything?
  • "According to a recent blog posting on the Hall Of Justice website, Walla claims that their new album is "in full swing" and that they already have six songs completed" - needs ref
  • "DCFC Union" - what's that?
  • The Narrow Stairs (2007–2008) section seems to have been written by someone different to the rest...it doesn't read nearly as well...
  • in Ben Gibbard section, refer to him only using surname
  • Same in the next section
  • I don't think this EL is necessary
  • Check italics for newspapers/magazines in refs
  • Ref 13 needs formatting
  • Are refs 16, 17, and 18 reliable?

And leave me a note when done. Cheers, dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) 08:35, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

All done Gary King (talk) 17:36, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
See stuff below. dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) 00:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Furthermore

  • Why is there an entire section about solo/side projects? I can cite a number of precedents (Radiohead, Audioslave, Blur) where such sections have been completely removed. The reasoning is, this is an article about Death Cab for Cutie, its history musical style, influence etc, not about what the band members did during their time away from the band. If the side projects need be mentioned at all, it should be along with the history itself. Eg:The band went on hiatus during which time they recorded with their side project... (Not too much detail is required...I wouldn't object to the removal of that section without even incorporating the info into the article actually)
    • If the side projects have had a significant impact on the band's career, a seperate section could be justified, otherwise probably best to merge it. dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) 00:59, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
      • I realized that even the band members have their own articles, so I've removed the sections since it would just be duplicating their own articles. Gary King (talk) 01:07, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
  • The article is rather short and makes absolutely no mention of what the the band sound like; a "Musical style" is needed here. Since there are no sound samples either, without such a section the reader is left with little idea about the band's sound. In addition, it might be useful to include quotes from notable reviewers that sum up various albums' music, while commenting on whether the album is good or bad. For eg: "melodic, melancholy songs about feeling both smart and confused, hopelessly romantic but wary of love." from Rolling Stone
    • It should be better now. I will leave the music samples to someone who knows how to do them. Gary King (talk) 02:05, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Reduce overlinking: After the first time you mention a band member in the body of the article, do not mention his first name or link throughout. So Ben Gibbard the first time, only Gibbard from then on.
indopug (talk) 21:16, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

All my concerns are addressed. Good job indopug (talk) 05:11, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Awesome, passing then. Thanks for your commentary, and thanks Gary for your non-stop work! dihydrogen monoxide (H2O) 08:51, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Narrow Stairs

The studio version of the album was ripped on 3/18/2008 and subsequently available for download from Internet sources as of 3/31/2008. 75.50.99.6 (talk) 11:20, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] External link to Death Cab for Cutie page on last.fm

Hello,

i would like to suggest an external link to Death Cab for Cuties's last.fm page (http://www.last.fm/music/Death+Cab+for+Cutie). Last.fm is a user generated music platform offering free legal contents such as music and videos. They have free streams of Death Cab for Cuties albums, videos, stats, updated gigs listings about the band, etc.. As a member of last.fm staff i would like to point your attention to what we believe to be relevant and free contents for those wikipedia users interested in the band.

cheers,

Marco - Last.fm Staff - Mystical-bunny (talk) 10:38, 6 June 2008 (UTC)