On Backlash: Ben Gibbard's April Fool's Day Joke

This is Ben Gibbard. He's the frontman for seminal soft-spoken indie rock group Death Cab For Cutie.

On April 1st, he did what so many of us do. He made a joke. Observe:


It's a little funny. It made me chuckle. What I find interesting, however, is how a few of the other members of my esteemed music journalism community reacted to this and Death Cab For Cutie's mere existence as a band. (I also cannot believe the debate in the comments section of the YouTube page!)

Here are some excerpts:

A fellow Atlanta music blog I read every day and enjoy, I Guess I'm Floating, had this to say:

"It's not lame because the music is lame or the idea is lame, it's lame because it's illogical and improbable for a guy like Ben Gibbard. He'd never branch out from convention the way this joke claims he would-- he proved that on Plans, an album that might as well have been dedicated to O.C. fans and the pasteboard 'indie' they're told to love in the liner notes."

Connor then says Gibbard's starting to look like Michael Moore. Ouch.
The comments section below this one's pretty priceless too, and practically a sociological study on the tiny self-victimizing subcultures attached to music fandom. The word "emo" is thrown around a bunch...debates as to the degree to which Death Cab fits into that category ensue (full disclosure: I engaged in just such a debate in this podcast, I think. If not, then it's this one.) I'm not saying it's unfounded. I just can't believe how swift and severe the reaction was. I think IGIF was surprised, too.

Some hate from Buzzgrinder:
"No, that’s not a fat Ryan Adams on the xylophone, it’s Ben Gibbard. The frontman of Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service has started a new group called Just Jazzin. The band is apparently just a joke, yet somehow not as funny as the last Death Cab album. Aw snap! You’ve been served, Ben Gibbard."

Here's another from Tiny Mix Tapes:
While reporting the band's upcoming tour dates, writer Nobodaddy calls them "doily rockers" and concludes his little rant on how only your younger cousins can like them with the ejaculation, "Right. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to devote the rest of my morning to formating this now-sizable list of tourdates for this shell of a band. Have a super day, everyone!" Geez. Bitter much?

Forgive me if I fail to see how a band like Death Cab deserves so much bile. They obviously have a sense of humor about themselves, a point so many performers never reach. They're not teenagers anymore and perhaps their aesthetic and chosen subject matter has turned a corner around which a lot of us can't follow. Fine. Don't listen to it anymore. I wonder whether anyone would be wasting so much energy on this if they hadn't signed to a major label and happened to be featured on a teen television drama. I don't think a band would ever consciously make the choice to place themselves in the path of so much ridicule, as IGIF and TMT seem to assume. But then, I don't know. I'm not them. I mean, Chris Walla was perfectly nice...

I'm not necessarily defending them. I grew out of my Death Cab phase a couple of years ago (as most people seem to postulate inevitably happens when one reaches a certain age), but I'm approaching this particular situation with a sense of detachment and bemusement. Why is this such a big deal to people?

Please utilize comments section. I want an answer to this.