Credit: We Are the RhoadsDeath Cab for Cutie's newly released video for the Kintsugi track "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive" takes place in Los Angeles, and, as the song's title suggests, it isn't too kind to the City of Angels. In the clip, which you can watch now at RollingStone.com, Ben Gibbard and his band play celebrity home tour guides, a practice of which they're not big fans.
"For every great thing about the city and the experience of living there, there is an offsetting negative that, for me, makes my feelings about L.A. a net zero in terms of personal connection," bassist Nick Harmer tells Rolling Stone. "The culture of celebrity tours feeds into this...it leaves me feeling cold and indifferent, and we wanted to make a video that captures that feeling of detachment."
In the "The Ghosts of Beverly Drive" video, the Death Cab members wear shirts that say "Little Wanderer Star Tours," a reference to fellow Kintsugi track "Little Wanderer." While the tour was staged -- "Doing a fake tour was icky enough" Harmer adds -- some of the scenes in the video were inspired by real-life celebrity tour experiences, such as when a security guard sprays the tourists with a hose.
"That was staged, but it came about as a result of an actual celebrity tour that [director] Robert [Hales] took while doing some research for the video," Harmer says. "He said that the bus he was riding on was actually sprayed a few times by local residents, and it happens quite often."
Death Cab for Cutie is currently touring through Europe in support of Kintsugi, their latest album. The band will return to North America for a string of dates beginning July 8 in Portland, Oregon.
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