By By Taylor Long
When I saw Ben Gibbard, Nick Harmer and Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie standing in a group outside the Neptune Theater in Seattle, Wash., my first reaction was “what are they doing? Aren’t they afraid of getting mobbed by 16 year olds?!” But of course they weren’t. The same band whose name has been littered all over “The O.C.,” the band that will be playing in New York’s Central Park this summer was standing outside the theater, talking about how surprised they were that there was a line around the block for the premiere of their tour documentary, Drive Well, Sleep Carefully: On The Road With Death Cab For Cutie.
Though the “small band coming to grips with their own stardom” story has been told time and time again (let’s avoid mentioning that Cameron Crowe movie), there’s a reason why people keep listening. It’s nice to know that your everyday man or woman can pick up an instrument and be living a dream.
The dream of stardom couldn’t happen to a group of gentleman more normal or nice than Death Cab for Cutie, and it is this angle that drives most of the documentary. We see footage of them walking on the beach, playing catch and flying kites. We see them driving cars and sitting and talking in a living room.
But the starring role of the film doesn’t go to the band members-it goes to the music. Drive Well, Sleep Carefully is overflowing with concert footage of 13 songs from shows off of the band’s 2004 tour supporting the breakout album Transatlanticism. 16mm film was used for the entire documentary, which works very well with the film’s overall feeling, though a few portions of the concert footage are a little dark. Where most directors may have only shown portions of the performances, Director Justin Mitchell decided to show the entire songs, with only one or two exceptions, which takes up a sizable chunk of the film’s 85 minutes.
Though footage of the group’s impressive live shows takes up the bulk of the running time, the interviews are where the film truly shines. Through the interviews, the viewers learn answers to longtime band “secrets,” like if “Styrofoam Plates” is about front-man Ben Gibbard’s own father and why the band wasn’t afraid to put “Tiny Vessels” on an album. Viewers also get a look at Hall of Justice, guitarist Chris Walla’s recording studio (formerly John & Stu’s Recording, where Nirvana’s Bleach was recorded) and hear the group members talk about their decision to sign to Atlantic. The interviews with Gibbard are particularly compelling. The same poetry that comes through in the song lyrics he writes comes through in his discussion about the songs themselves or about life on the road. “The song about girl x is prettier than the person she is in real life, and that’s how I want to remember her,” he says about his tendency to write sad, breakup songs. Extras on the DVD include part of an acoustic set, behind the scenes footage and additional interviews.
As is the case with most music-based DVDs, Drive Well, Sleep Carefully is meant for the already established fan. The concert footage is nice to watch for those times when the band is touring, and the interviews are a great reminder for fans about why they fell in love with the band in the first place.
“This is not the story of underground vs. mainstream,” the film cautions in its opening credits, and indeed, it is not. It is simply a small part of the story of four slightly nerdy men from Seattle who write beautiful music and are grateful, yet still somewhat surprised that they can make a living from it.
Drive Well, Sleep Carefully will be officially released by Plexifilm on July 26. For more information, or to order it, visit www.plexifilm.com.
Final Grade: B+
