Death Cab for cutie, 来自华盛顿柏林汉姆的四人Indie Pop乐团Death Cab for Cutie成立于1997年，默默无闻两年之后他们签到了独立厂牌Barsuk（俄语獾熊的意思），并且成功的推出了三张专辑。2011年10月份发行的这张《Transatlanticism》（横贯大西洋主义）是他们在Barsuk旗下发行的第四张录音室作品了，不知道他能否续写三年前专辑《We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes》的辉煌。乐队的名字来自英国六十年代末著名迷幻乐队The Bonzo Dog Band的处女作专辑《Gorilla》里的一首歌的名字，他们不愿对此解释过多，只说去听听那首歌就知道了。Death Cab for Cutie的才华在他们的首张专辑里《Something About Airplanes》里就崭露头角，一曲迷幻气息浓厚的《President Of What》里的风琴和唱腔犹如The Doors的重显就让人们大吃一惊。可是这只是乐队对自己过去的怀念罢了，乐队于2000年发行的专辑《We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes》以全新的Indie Pop姿态示人，专辑中的歌曲清新馍人。

多数Death Cab for Cutie的歌都像是歌者的自述，他讲的都是生活中的领悟和对未来的美好憧憬。乐队主唱Ben Gibbard说：“我们的歌曲是真诚的，也许我们会为丘比特的冷落而忧心忡忡，也许我们不会把痛苦和听众分享，但是我们只是想唱一些快乐的歌曲与别人分享。”可是不幸在2000年的夏天降临到乐队身上，一连串的事故让这几个年轻人心灰意冷，先是乐队因为经理人的问题产生了激烈的矛盾，然后鼓手Nathan Good的离开让乐队几乎解散。好在最后乐队克服了这些矛盾，他们找来了新的鼓手Michael Schorr并且录制了一张纪念这段经历的EP《Forbidden Love》。2003年出版这张专辑《Transatlanticism》之前，乐队又加入了新的成员，也许这对他们来说是一个新的开始.

Death Cab for Cutie began as a solo project of Ben Gibbard while he was the guitar player for the band Pinwheel. As Death Cab for Cutie, Gibbard released a cassette titled You Can Play These Songs with Chords; the release was surprisingly successful, and Gibbard decided to expand the band into a complete project. He recruited Christopher Walla (who had also worked on the cassette) as an electric guitarist, Nick Harmer as bass guitarist, and Nathan Good to play drums. Death Cab for Cutie was officially formed at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, and lyrics from many of the early songs include local references that were important to the band's development. Many of the early songs were recorded in the basement of an Ellis Street home Ben lived in with several roommates in Bellingham, and the title of the band's official fan club, DCFC Local Union #1138, references this building, along with the ¡All-Time Quarterback! song “Dinner at Eight in the Suburbs”.

The four released the LP Something About Airplanes on August 18th 1998. The album was favorably reviewed in the independent music scene, and in 2000 the band released We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes. Nathan Good left the band at some point during this album's production. His playing on “The Employment Pages” and “Company Calls Epilogue” were kept, but Gibbard played drums on all other songs.

Michael Schorr would first appear on The Forbidden Love E.P., released on October 24, 2000. In 2001, another LP was released, entitled The Photo Album. Limited editions of this album contained three bonus tracks, which were later released separately as The Stability E.P.

In 2003, there was another change of drummer, with Jason McGerr of Eureka Farm replacing Schorr. McGerr would play drums on the next release, Transatlanticism.

Transatlanticism was released in October of 2003. It received critical praise and also became the band's top-selling album, with 225,000 copies sold during its first year out.[citation needed] Tracks from the album appeared in the soundtracks of television shows The O.C., Six Feet Under, and CSI: Miami, the 2005 movies Wedding Crashers and Mean Creek.

In spring of 2004, the band recorded a live E.P. titled The John Byrd E.P., named for their sound engineer. The E.P. was released on Barsuk Records in March 2004. The album includes tracks from The Wiltern in Los Angeles, The Fillmore in San Francisco, as well as other venues.