You Can Play These Songs with Chords is an early (1996–97) demo from the rock band Death Cab for Cutie, which at the time consisted entirely of founder Ben Gibbard. This demo was originally released on cassette by Elsinor Records. It proved so popular, Gibbard recruited other musicians to make a full band, which would go on to record Something About Airplanes, the band's debut studio album.
| You Can Play These Songs with Chords | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Demo album by | ||||
| Released | 1997 | |||
| Recorded | May–July 1997 (original) November 1996 – January 2000 (reissue) | |||
| Genre | Indie rock | |||
| Length | 30:05 | |||
| Label | Barsuk[1] | |||
| Producer | Ben Gibbard | |||
| Death Cab for Cutie chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 65/100[2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [3] |
| Almost Cool | 6.5/10[4] |
| Billboard | (positive)[5] |
| Dusted Magazine | (positive)[6] |
| Pitchfork | 6.4/10[7] |
| PopMatters |   [8][2] |
| Rolling Stone | [9] |
| Stylus Magazine | C[10] |
You Can Play These Songs with Chords was expanded with ten more songs and re-released on October 22, 2002, through Barsuk Records on the heels of the success of The Photo Album.
Track listing
editOriginal release
editAll songs written by Benjamin Gibbard.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "President of What?" | 4:06 |
| 2. | "Champagne from a Paper Cup" | 2:34 |
| 3. | "Pictures in an Exhibition" | 4:02 |
| 4. | "Hindsight" | 3:47 |
| 5. | "That's Incentive" | 2:13 |
| 6. | "Amputations" | 4:03 |
| 7. | "Two Cars" | 3:31 |
| 8. | "Line of Best Fit" | 5:49 |
Re-issue additional tracks
editAll songs written by Benjamin Gibbard, Nick Harmer and Christopher Walla except as otherwise noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Charming Man" | Johnny Marr, Morrissey | 2:14 |
| 2. | "TV Trays" | 4:02 | |
| 3. | "New Candles" | 3:02 | |
| 4. | "Tomorrow" | 2:17 | |
| 5. | "Flustered/Hey Tomcat!" | 2:56 | |
| 6. | "State Street Residential" | 5:51 | |
| 7. | "Wait" | Secret Stars[11] | 3:34 |
| 8. | "Prove My Hypotheses" | 4:11 | |
| 9. | "Song for Kelly Huckaby" (Facts version) | 3:51 | |
| 10. | "Army Corps of Architects" | 4:43 |
Personnel
edit- Ben Gibbard – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums
- Nathan Good – drums, tambourine
- Nick Harmer – bass guitar
- Christopher Walla – guitar, vocals "New Candles" and "Tomorrow"
References
edit- ^ "Discography". Death Cab For Cutie. Retrieved 2012-03-16.
- ^ a b Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Almost Cool review
- ^ Billboard review
- ^ Duster Magazine review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Stylus Magazine review
- ^ "The Secret Stars - Wait". Discogs. 1995.
