Death Cab For Cutie thrives in major leagues

By Cortney Harding

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Death Cab for Cutie does not make overwhelming records.

The Pacific Northwest rock quartet's albums, including its May 13 release, "Narrow Stairs," are smart, subtle and emotional affairs that take time to sink in.

The sales reflect this. Death Cab's Atlantic debut, 2005's "Plans," sold 90,000 units in its first week, and has never sold less than 1,000 copies per week since; sales to date stand at about 943,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Its five previous albums, released on the indie label Barsuk, sold 1.1 million copies combined.

"Plans" spawned two hit singles, "Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth." Heavy radio airplay had never happened before Atlantic entered the picture. Of course, signing with a major induces a lot of soul-searching and uncertainty among indie bands, and Death Cab was no exception.

Even after the band signed, it was still wary of aspects of the major-label model, going as far as suggesting that fans download the record for free. Atlantic kept Barsuk in the fold when the band came over to the major. The Seattle label will release the vinyl version of "Narrow Stairs."

Credibility is a key issue for Death Cab. After finishing the album, the band ignited a huge buzz by streaming the full eight-minute and 35-second version of the first single, "I Will Possess Your Heart," from its Web site last month. As word spread through the blogosphere, influential radio stations in Los Angeles quickly started playing the track.

To make sure the band was comfortable with the song being shortened for commercial airplay, Atlantic enlisted guitarist Chris Walla to do the radio edit.