Ben Gibbard And Jay Farrar

While recording music for an upcoming Jack Kerouac documentary, One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab For Cutie) and Jay Farrar (Son Volt) met and thought, "Hey, let's record an album together with lyrics inspired by Kerouac's 1962 novel Big Sur. The album, of the same name as the documentary, is out now, and the pair is on a brief tour on its behalf (which also includes a smattering of members from both bands). It sounds like a novelty project, but Gibbard and Farrar manage to wrangle sweet melodies and punchy harmonies out of the dense source material. Novelty, sure, but a well-done one.

Updated 10/14/2009