Combining sensitive songwriting, memorable melodies, and the rich, wistful vocal tone of bandleader Ben Gibbard, Seattle’s Death Cab for Cutie quickly rose from a low-key solo project to become one of the definitive indie groups of the 2000s and 2010s. Then based in the bayside college town of Bellingham, Washington, Gibbard had a minor breakthrough in 1997 with his debut cassette, You Can Play These Songs with Chords, prompting him to put together a band that included the cassette’s producer, Chris Walla. After marrying grungy rock and bittersweet indie pop for nearly a decade, their 2005 major-label debut, the more polished Plans, propelled Death Cab for Cutie into the Top Five behind the Hot 100 single ‘Soul Meets Body.’ They followed it with another hit song, the ballad ‘I Will Possess Your Heart’ from 2008’s Narrow Stairs, which went all the way to number one on the Billboard 200. Continuing a trend toward more refined production, they returned to the Top Ten with releases such as 2011’s Codes and Keys (another Grammy nominee for Best Alternative Music Album) and 2015’s Kintsugi (a Best Rock Album nominee). Their tenth studio full-length, Asphalt Meadows, saw release in 2022, 25 years after Gibbard’s breakout cassette. At Death Cab for Cutie’s inception, Gibbard was an engineering student at Western Washington University who split his time between school and music. Taking a break from his local power pop band, Pinwheel, Gibbard began recording an album’s worth of solo material during the summer of 1997. Producer Chris Walla lent his help to the sessions, which resulted in an eight-song cassette entitled You Can Play These Songs with Chords. When the tape became a local hit, Gibbard reached into his circle of friends to form a band, hoping to play the new songs live. Bassist Nick Harmer (Gibbard’s roommate) and drummer Nathan Good climbed aboard, and Walla was enlisted as the group’s primary guitarist. He would also go on to produce many of the band’s future releases. With a lineup in place, Gibbard’s group rechristened itself Death Cab for Cutie (named after a song by the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band) and, within a year’s time, signed a contract with the Seattle-based Barsuk Records. The quartet made their studio debut with 1998’s Something About Airplanes, an album that featured several re-recorded tracks from the You Can Play These Songs with Chords cassette as well as a dreamy, pop-oriented sound reminiscent of Built to Spill. Gibbard and Walla both continued to pursue their own projects (including Gibbard’s successful stint with the Postal Service), but that didn’t keep Death Cab for Cutie from returning to the studio for a second album, We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes, which appeared in 2000. Nathan Good left the group just prior to the album’s completion, and We Have the Facts introduced Michael Schorr as Death Cab’s new drummer. The Forbidden Love EP arrived that same year, while a third full-length effort, The Photo Album, was released in 2001. By this time, a sizable audience had gathered around the band’s emotional music, and Barsuk re-released You Can Play These Songs with Chords in 2002 with ten additional songs.