For those who haven't heard Seattle-based indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC), or lead singer Ben Gibbard's side project The Postal Service yet, - expect to. After they released what many feel is their best album to date, "Transatlanticism," in the fall of 2003 and gaining increasing exposure on tour, it's clear that DCFC is a band on the rise.
"I feel like we've just zeroed in on what we're doing a little more," said DCFC guitarist Chris Walla in an interview. "I feel like we're playing together better than we ever have, and I feel like the records have all progressively sounded a little better than the previous one."
With four full-length albums, two EPs and seven years experience, DCFC isn't new to the game. The band keeps its sound fresh by evolving with each record and embarking on side project ventures.
"I think all the stuff we do outside of the band really affects the band itself for the better," Walla said. "There's certainly lots of people that are coming to Death Cab for Cutie by way of the Postal Service."
Walla also said side projects like the Postal Service do not take away from band cohesion.
"Everybody knows that this [DCFC] is our project. This is the band that pays all our bills," he said. "This is the first priority for everyone and we get to do other stuff on the side, but it's very much on the side."
Last time DCFC played in D.C., it was to a sold-out show at the Black Cat. On Saturday, the band moved up the venue food-chain, rocking out to a sold-out crowd at the 9:30 Club, playing a short set and leaving the audience hungry for more. As the band's popularity increases, its tours get bigger and its audience expands.
"The first few shows of this tour kind of blew us away," Walla said. "We were really surprised by how many people were coming to the shows."
Although the crowds at each show get bigger, DCFC doesn't see much of a change in its fan base.
"I don't really get the sense that the kids coming to the show are any different than the kids who have been coming to the shows," Walla said. "I think maybe in some cases the audiences are a little greener, a little younger maybe. But it's not like there's suddenly tons and tons of muscley football player types at our shows or something weird like that. It's not suddenly a goth convention."
The Seattle foursome has spent almost its entire career on the independent record label Barsuk, but with DCFC's increasing popularity, plans of moving to a major label have not been ruled out.
"I think that it's sometimes perceived that we are staunchly anti-corporate or anti-major label, and we're not on a major label but that doesn't mean that we haven't been interested and we haven't had conversations with people," Walla said. "But we're certainly really happy with our home on Barsuk."
As for what's next for these up-and-coming indie rockers, they plan to work on another full-length album.
"We've talked a lot about trying to do something that's a little less dour," Walla said. "I think Ben [Gibbard, the lead singer] is, personally, in a much better place than he was when he was working on the songs for 'Transatlanticism.' That always really informs the creative process. All I know is that we're really excited to do it"
