Death Cab for Cutie: Astoria, London
Ian Gittins, The Guardian, 3 March 2006
AFTER A NEAR-DECADE loitering on the college rock margins, Seattle four-piece Death Cab for Cutie saw an appearance on US teen soap The OC power their fifth studio album, Plans, to number four on the Billboard chart last year. Two sold-out Astoria shows indicate that their star is similarly rising here. This quantum leap was unexpected — as Death Cab are such an unassuming and understated band. Unabashed emo rockers, their first album saw singer-songwriter Ben Gibbard effectively whispering his journal over gently diminished chords, like Belle & Sebastian shorn of their pigeon-toed coyness.
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