Critics still hail Death Cab.

Byline: Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

CONCERT PREVIEW Death Cab for Cutie With: Mates of State What: Indie - or whatever When: 6:30 p.m. Thursday Where: Secret House Vineyards, 88324 Vineyard Lane, Veneta Tickets: $25 advance through Ticketmaster outlets, $28 day of show

A fun game to play at Thursday's show at Secret House would be "Before They Were Cool." The winners can say they saw Death Cab for Cutie in 1998 when it opened for Harvey Danger at the Wild Duck.

If you can forgive the Seattle band for its association with "The OC," its members, perhaps, can forgive you for wondering whether it would falter with a major-label debut after almost a decade as an indie wonder story.

Instead, "Plans," released last year on Atlantic Records, has pleased many doubters. The All Music reviewer says it comes close to being one of Atlantic's finest releases.

Born in 1997 as a solo side project of singer and guitarist Ben Gibbard, DCFC - as the kids call the band- has gone on to overshadow Gibbard's original band, the Postal Service.

We got ahold of guitar player Chris Walla as he walked around University Park, Penn., before a show at Bryce Jordan Center.

Question: What's the biggest myth about your band?

Answer: I think the most dramatic untruth that I've heard was that our career was "made" by "The OC." That is simply not true and it almost makes me bristle when I hear it.

It's part of our story. But "Transatlanticism" was already out and doing very well at that point. I think more people heard about us, but not that many of them bought records. ...

It's weird to get asked about it all the time. And I suppose it's weird that I'm voluntarily talking about it.

Question: I know, you brought it up.

Answer: So let's stop talking about it.

Question: You just got back from Australia, and you went there three years ago, too. How do you compare going on a world tour now with when you were on the indie label Barsuk?

Answer: Some elements of it are a lot better and a lot more put together. Australia has always been really good to us. There are only 20 million people there, and if you have a good label there you can reach all 20 million because it's like a town.

Question: It's unusual to go from an indie label to a major label and still keep most of your fans. How do you think you managed to pull that off?

Answer: Just by watching a lot of the terrible, terrible experiences of some of our friends' bands on major labels and taking careful notes and not doing what they did.

Question: Does the term indie band even mean anything to you?

Answer: Not anymore. I guess I'm kind of a literalist. To me it means independent band, a band that is independent of corporate trappings or making decisions for other people's reasons and not your own. In that sense we are a fully dependent band and there's no independent about us.

I don't think the term means anything anymore. It's turned into a genrefier, much like alternative or adult contem- porary.

Question: Do you think Atlantic took a risk on you?

Answer: Yeah, I think so. Part of the calculation of their risk was, "Well, they've done pretty well so far, so let's kinda let them do their thing and see if it works," and I think they are happy. They haven't kicked us to the curb.

Question: Does this contract involve a second record with them?

Answer: Yeah, it does. It hasn't started yet, and it won't start again until next year. We haven't had a break since 2002. ... We started working on "Transatlanticism" in November 2002. So, save a few weeks here and there, we haven't had a break for four years.

Question: So, what are you going to write about?

Answer: I guess we start writing tour anthems like Journey, "They say that the road ain't no place to start a family," something like that (laughs).

Question: Who do you think is the cutest one?

Answer: I think it's Jason (McGerr). I don't think he gets any credit. He's certainly the strappingest, if that's a word. The most strapping. He's big and muscly and he could pick any of us up and body slam us without thinking about it.

But he chooses not to. He's the gentle giant.

He's amazing.