You Can Play These Songs with Chords

Death Cab for Cutie | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 22, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Barsuk
• ASIN: B00006L3PW
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,080 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #93 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo Fi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Death Cab album for die hard fans, July 26, 2003

By 

Brian (Williamstown, New Jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Play These Songs with Chords (Audio CD)

This album is a collection of rarities and b-sides and I would not reccomend it to the first time death cab buyer your best bet is to pick up the photo album the biggest plus to this album is the smiths cover of this charmning man which is done semi tastefully aside from a few lyrical miffs.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only if You're a Death Cab fan, February 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: You Can Play These Songs with Chords (Audio CD)

I've read and heard far too many reviews of this album that don't give it the credit it deserves, so hear goes.

Honestly, this is an incredible album, but you have to be a Death Cab fan to appreciate it. Yes, this is their first demo and their B-sides. So don't complain if you buy it and aren't pleased because it's not "up to their usual quality"

But this album gives you insight into Death Cab that you aren't going to find anywhere else. So if you care about this band and actually appreciate their music in a moving sense, it's incredible. Some of the B-sides on this album are more incredible than the original songs. Also, it's amazing to hear the differences between the songs that made it onto latter recordings and those which were laid down for You Can Play These Songs With Chords.

So stop complaining. If you didn't like this album, you don't really like Death Cab. If you do, however, this is a rare treasure. Buy it, but only if you're a real fan. You know who you are.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Death Cab presents excellent B-sides/demo collection, January 2, 2003

By 

Jason Panella (Beaver Falls, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: You Can Play These Songs with Chords (Audio CD)

A preliminary note: like the other reviews mention, You Can Play These Songs With Chords isn't the best place for a new Death Cab fan to start. Regardless, it is an excellent collection of songs that pinpoints a band from their infancy to most recent.

The opening eight tracks are a re-release of the demo recordings singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard did in 1997 (released with the same title as this compliation). Playing all of the instruments himself, the bulk of these demos resurfaced a short while later on Death Cab's first proper album, Something About Airplanes (then played with a full band). For the most part, the sound quality is awfully lo-fi, which recorder/future DCFC guitarist Chris Walla was obviously aiming for. As for the music, most of the songs are close enough to the final product, which is two-thumbs-up material. The few demos that didn't make it, like "Hindsight" and "That's Incentive" (with its limber bassline) show that not all songs cut were bad.

The rest of the material is a collection of B-sides from DC's history. Some, like "TV Trays" and the original version of "Song for Kelly Huckaby," are on the verge of being subpar. Others, like the pretty "Army Corp of Architects," the quasi-Built to Spill-ish "Prove My Hypotheses" and the Something About Airplanes misfire "State Street Residential," are some of the best tracks the band has recorded. Some, like the hilarious cover of the Smiths' "This Charming Man" and the 'European Dance Hit' "Tomorrow," just don't fit into any catagory.

For the most part, this is a great collection of songs Death Cab fans will be eager to get ahold of. For the newcomer, this may prove to be a confusing assortment of tracks.

Oh, side note: the CD insert is a great help: I was always interested in who plays on songs, and this delievers in addition to the amusing notes provided by the band members.