Reversal of Fortune: DCFC Officially Loses Touch With Their Core Audience

Since the record apparently leaked some time last week, Death Cab For Cutie's new CD Plans has been making the rounds in the blogosphere. Usually as quickly as tracks have appeared for download (as opposed to streaming), swiftly the pens of the attorneys-of-record have signed off on what are known as "Cease & Desist" orders -- orders by the record label or management sent to broadcast outlets demanding they stop the offering of tracks from the unreleased material. In a year filled with highly-anticipated releases, fewer have been more anticipated than DCFC's major label debut, primarily because of the immense independently-fostered following the band has managed over the last few years.

Since forming in Bellingham sometime around 1997, DCFC has steadily gone from regional Barsuk-label indie darlings to appearances in films and television, most notably an episode of Six Feet Under in which Ben Gibbard's etherial beckon call "I need you so much closer" is repeated over and over again by Claire Fischer and her art school friends in an ecstasy-induced haze. Gibbard himself has spent a great deal of time in Los Angeles, collaborating with Jimmy Tamborello on the enormously popular project The Postal Service. The band was repeatedly and frequently courted by major labels over the years, turning down a number of lucrative and potentially life-altering offers in lieu of having complete creative control over their music.

Easy enough, then, to see how DCFC has filtered into popular culture and into the unwitting hearts of fans cross continent. But how does a band whose popularity was built on the foundation of its fierce independence maintain its posture in the role of major label antics? No less crucial than the quality of their major-label debut itself would be the way in which that music is marketed and promoted.

Thus far, the band's handlers and representatives have openly and ferociously gone after MP3 blogs who have offered sneak peeks in advance of the record's release. It's a sign of immense self-importance and puffery by the industry's biggest bullies who, seemingly to prove their dedication to their wunderkinds, have taken off the gloves to protect their investment. Unlike other major labels, Atlantic Records, one of the grand old dames of the fledgling major label system, willfully demonstrates that they are behind the times. In an age where MP3 blogs are among the greatest promotional tools artists have at their disposal, culture geeks and fans whose rabid affection for music are being shut out of the equation in the name of money.

If bloggers and fan sites drive the cultural pulse and set the tone for purchasing patterns, it seems counterproductive for bands in Death Cab For Cutie's precarious position to allow themselves to disconnect from the very fan base that they worked so vehemently to create.

The effect of this alienation has yet to be seen. DCFC's latest CD will be released August 30th by Atlantic Records with a fall tour to follow. In the process, the band seems prepared for the coffin to close on the ghosts of their indie beginnings and meanderings. But the message being sent is quite clear: Atlantic Records is banking on the formidability of Death Cab's Gin Blossoms-esque appeal and smooth-selling back catalog to create a crowning jewel. Atlantic expects DCFC to make them a great deal of money, and they are out to get every dollar they can at whatever cost to the band's credibility or loyal fan base.

Those culture geeks and fans are left to fight amongst themselves about whether DCFC's sound has mutated into modern-day "elevator music" (as many bloggers have put it) or matured to connect with the audience for whom their music was always intended.

Here are links to a couple of excellent blog postings regarding the new album, and I will update them as necessary.

Delia True over at The New Goo reviews
Matthew Perpetua at Fluxblog has a few choice words about Ben Gibbard
Witness "Clash of the Hipsters" in the comments at Stereogum