Starting Out With Nothing But Crippling Doubt

Death Cab for Cutie's new album is due out in May.

To follow its 2005 mainstream breakthrough, "Plans," Death Cab For Cutie opted to record live to analog tape with as few overdubs as possible. The outcome: "a sampling of the most uptempo, upbeat Death Cab songs as well as some of our saddest," bassist Nick Harmer tells Billboard.

Embarrassingly, I do not own a Death Cab album, yet I am familiar with much of their music and count myself as a potential fan. I'd like to rectify this unfortunate situation and start purchasing past releases. Any recommendations on where to start?