Death Cab for Cutie climbs with 'Narrow Stairs'

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE

When the members of the Washington indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie began recording the songs that eventually became their Grammy-nominated disc Narrow Stairs, they were very conscious of duplicating a mood and feeling that bassist Nicholas Harmer says marks the only difference between it and their prior releases.

“The one thing that we wanted to be most conscious of and emphasize while making Narrow Stairs was really getting each song to sound like a live performance,” Harmer said. “We worked very hard in terms of the original vocals and the arrangements as we were playing behind them to get things right the first time out. When we listened back to the tracks in the studio we had a good feeling about what we were hearing. Then we would go back and maybe do a little tweaking with the overdubs, but we wanted those basic tracks to really sound like we do in live performance.”

That determination has made Narrow Stairs arguably their finest record. Death Cab for Cutie, which will be doing two shows at the Ryman Auditorium Sunday and Monday along with Ra Ra Riot and Matt Costa, not only got rave reviews from both mainstream and online rock press critics, they also garnered Grammy nominations for Best Alternative Music Album and Best Rock Song.

And, Narrow Stairs became their first album to top the Billboard charts, and the third straight (with Plans and Transatlanticism) to get favorable critical response.

However, Narrow Stairs also got Death Cab lots of ink for a different reason, and even generated a bit of a controversy over their reported protest regarding the excessive use of Auto-Tune in the industry.

“That whole thing [their supposed protest] was in many ways a case of people making a lot more out of something that we all saw as something tongue-in-cheek,” Harmer said. “When you’re doing that whole red carpet thing at the Grammys, in a lot of cases you’re walking in front of cameras and talking to people who don’t even know anything about your music. They’ve been told by their producers to grab you for some questions, and they start talking about a little bit of everything, and it becomes a surreal experience rather quickly.”

The band wasn’t trying to start a protest campaign — or, at least an organized one, Harmer said, though the band was wearing blue ribbons for their “cause.”

“We were making a point about this whole tendency to try and shoot for perfection in rock music, which is kind of an interesting discussion,” Harmer said. “But the whole deal with the ribbons was much more of a joke and fun thing than anything else.”

The group’s sound has steadily evolved from being in its early years a rather detached, straightforward mode to a more sophisticated, tighter brand of indie rock. Benjamin Gibbard’s vocals are contrasted by the guitar and piano support of Chris Walla, and crisp rhythms from the duo of Harmer and drummer Jason McGerr. It is McGerr whom Harmer credits as the key figure behind really solidifying the Death Cab for Cutie sensibility since he joined the group in 2003.

“That line about a band only being as good as its drummer is all true as far as I’m concerned,” Harmer said. “Jason isn’t just a drummer, he’s a drum teacher, and someone who lives, breathes and I think even eats drums. He’s a great musician, and he knows when to put a really complex backbeat behind what we’re doing, when to just support it, and when to shade it or lay out behind what we’re doing.

“I think when he joined the band it was the final ingredient for us, as it gave us an instrumental equal on the drums to match what the others could do on their instruments. His skill drives and inspires us, and we’re really functioning as a complete unit.”

Plus, Harmer adds, since he’s known McGerr from even before the drummer became part of Death Cab, together they are tight as a rhythm section and also really good friends.

While they haven’t yet begun sessions for a new disc, Death Cab does have fresh material available. The Open Door EP includes not only cuts that didn’t make it onto Narrow Stairs, but the demo for “Talking Bird.” Anyone who purchases the package on iTunes also gets the music video for “Grapevine Fires.”

With Gibbard, Walla and Harmer all members since the beginning in 1997 and McGerr now in his sixth year, Death Cab for Cutie has a stability that’s enviable. But Harmer says there’s no sense of coasting or resting on the laurels from Narrow Stairs.

“We’re really busy right now with the dates and tour, but I anticipate that at some point later this year we’ll be taking some time off to do some writing for the next release,” he said. “We’ve already had some discussions, and everyone is in agreement that we want to get a new disc out there definitely at some point in 2010, so we’ll begin seriously looking at that later this year.”

What: Death Cab for Cutie along with Ra Ra Riot and Matt Costa
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Monday
Where: Ryman Auditorium, 116 Fifth Ave. N.
Cost: $32 (Monday’s show is sold out)
Info: 889-3060, ryman.com