Search - Death Cab for Cutie :: The John Byrd E.P.

Steve S. (Reno-ness) from ARROYO GRANDE, CA
Reviewed on 11/14/2008...

Recorded live in 2004, the band's never sounded better. So you better have a listen!

Where is chords?

Jason | Long Beach, CA USA | 03/07/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My first thought as I listened to We Laugh Indoors, I remembered watching Death Cab for the first time at the Wiltern in Los Angeles almost a year ago. I was totally tripping out when I read the credits and found out that We Laugh Indoors and Blacking out the Friction/Brand New Love was recorded at the Wiltern when I was there. I was totally stoked.



The recording is crisp. But the liveness of it was lacking, sadly. Especially coming from a band such as Death Cab for Cutie. Also, I wish the vocals had a bit more reverb into it, because since it was live, it should have some reverb in the recording to relive that liveness out of it.



I wish there were more ramblings. Because their jokes kick ass, again, the liveness. And one more thing to finally hit me was, where's the stuff from We Have the Facts, or Airplanes, or even going farther back, Chords? I was so bummed that they didn't put any old stuff on the ep, well except for 405, but that basically was the version from the Forbidden Love EP. Oh and one more thing, TRANSATLANTICISM wasn't on it. BUMMER.



Although with its lacking of liveness and song selection, The John Byrd EP totally makes up for it because it is DEATH CAB of course. I loved how the songs fit into each other. I also loved the jam in Giants and Blacking out/Brand New Love. The bit with Barry was hilarious. All in all, great ep. Oh and one more tid bit. I found it awesome to release it to indie stores. Good idea, totally. Giving back to the places that supported you, and the fans too. Hope Death Cab's next record will be as awesome as all the other ones."

Great live mini-album is overlooked

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 02/10/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a long-time Death Cab fan, I have somehow overlooked this release, and only picked it up recently when I saw it on the cheap in the used bin of my local indie record store. Boy, am I glad I finally picked this up!



"The John Byrd E.P." (released Spring 2005; 7 tracks; 38 min.) is named after DCFC's tour sound engineer, and it brings a great (if incomplete, of course) overview/impression of what the band sounded like on its Spring of 2004 tour in support of the then-recently released "Transatlanticism" album. The EP jumps in with 2 great and energy-bursting tracks from "The Photo Album", "We Laugh Indoors" and ""Why You'd Wanna Live Here". It is followed by a more pensive "Lightness" from "Transatlanticism". Long-time fan-fave "Photobooth" (from the "Forbidden Love" EP) follows, and sounds just great. The 7+ min. "We Looked Like Giants" (from "Transatlanticism") and the "405" (from "We Have All the Facts") follow, setting up the piece-de-resistance, the 7+ min. medley "Blacking Out the Friction/Brand New Love", the former a great take on the "Photo Album" track, and the latter being a cover song, just great. Ben Gibbard is in great form throughout on this recording, talking to the crowd, making jokes, etc.



In all, this is one terrific recording. Calling it an EP is really an injustice as this runs at 38 min. (similar to Radiohead's underappreciated "I Might Be Wrong" mini-album live release). This was released by the band's now former (indie) label Barsuk, just before the band jumped to a major label, probably a reason why this release has remained so much under the radar. DCFC is currently STILL touring behind their most recent album "Narrow Stairs" and I will be seeing them again in April. Can't wait for that. Meanwhile, "The John Byrd E.P." is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for all DCFC fans."