Bellevue Days on Death Cab For Cutie

By Special Guest on 2nd February 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

Croydon-based sludge pop/alt-rock four piece, Bellevue Days, have so far released two highly-praised EPs—2016’s Sad Boy and 2017’s Rosehill—for which the band saw a huge swell of support at national press, gaining coverage from The Independent, Kerrang! Magazine, Rock Sound, DIY, Upset and Dork.

Their single ‘Ripped Jeans’ was picked as Zane Lowe’s Hottest Record in The World on Beats 1, and spent 6 weeks on the Kerrang! Radio playlist, with further spins at BBC Radio 1, Radio X, BBC Introducing, Soho Radio, and many more specialist shows.

Bellevue Days’ Alan Smith discusses why he loves Death Cab For Cutie in the latest in our Why I Love series.

Image result for death cab for cutie — ***Death Cab For Cutie***

Why do I love them? Well, they just have songs which connect with me like others can’t.

My love affair with Death Cab For Cutie started when I was in early high school. Granted, ‘Sound Of Settling’ was the only song my tender brain could comprehend as they do have a kind of “mature” sound, but it was the start of a magical journey.

As for that clicking moment? I guess I’ve had a few click moments with these guys. I was HOOKED on Transatlanticism (Death Cab For Cutie’s fourth album) for a good few years before I truly discovered that they actually had more than one good album. A big click for me though was the piano intro to ‘What Sarah Said’, it’s so beautifully crafted and kinda hurts my heart in a good way.

Being inspired almost falls into influence for me sometimes… There are times where I listen to these guys quite a bit, and funnily enough during the recording process of our debut album ‘It Can’t Possibly Go Wrong Ever’ was one of those times.

I do enjoy their unique guitar chords/ riffs which always give this haunting/ emotive vibe, so I did try to incorporate that where possible. Benjamin Gibbard’s sense of story telling in music has always been quite the inspiration when I delve into writing songs myself. The way he can reflect on a memory and take you to there is a masterful talent.

I have plenty of favourite Death Cab For Cutie songs but a couple of my favourites are Cath and You’ve Haunted Me All My Life.

‘Cath’ is a song that has only really stood out to me in the last year or so, I never really delved into the Narrow Stairs album too much but this song from it is really beautiful. It probably has one of my favourite middle eights I’ve heard in a long time.

‘You’ve Haunted Me All My Life,’ is taken from Kintsugi. For some reason this album didn’t resonate with some people but I flipping love it to be honest. But this song really stands out—well crafted and some strong lyrics in this one.

On lyrics, some of my favourites come from Death Cab For Cutie.

‘Follow You Into The Dark’ is arguably one of Death Cab Fmost popular songs EVER. But there is a reason for that, Gibbard’s story of love and death can resonate with so many people as it’s something we all go through, at some point…

‘Passenger Seat’ is another classic example of a well crafted, well worded and wonderfully executed song both musically and lyrically. Basically I love the whole song!

Many thanks to Alan and Bellevue Days for taking the time to write about Death Cab For Cutie. The band are on tour in February; all the dates are listed below.