Shepard Fairey Makes A Cool Video, Too Bad It’s For A Death Cab Song

What a waste of a good idea.

If you put street art into the music video for a cool band, it could be an awesome combination. It almost happened, too. Renowned street artist Shepard Fairey took song lyrics, incorporated them into his pieces, and posted those all over Los Angeles. Then, footage from around the city was incorporated with other cityscape shots into what could have been an interesting clip — except it’s for Death Cab for Cutie’s “Home is a Fire.”

“I love the democracy of music and I’m always excited to bundle visual art with great music,” Fairey wrote in a statement on the collaboration. “The city can be an impersonal place, imposing, simultaneously anonymous and claustrophobic.” He makes some good points.

Unfortunately, Fairey apparently has the musical taste of a college freshman at a Greek rush party — he said he’s “been a fan of Death Cab for years” and that he was excited when the group approached him to make the video.

The argument could be made, of course, that they’re perfect for each other. Death Cab for Cutie were once an underground, indie band, until they blew up and became that band people started to say they liked when they wanted to seem indie and cool. Fairey was once a renegade street artist who eventually went on to create the artwork for Obama’s presidential campaign. Neither is exactly underground anymore.

The big difference is that Fairey’s art is still interesting while Death Cab is just sort of bland. Yes, he still works in roughly the same style as always, but having a distinct aesthetic is different than the way “Home Is A Fire” sounds almost exactly like Death Cab’s music did five or ten years ago.

Mixing in street art is a cool idea for a music video sullied by the fact that it’s for a lousy band. But if you don’t agree that Death Cab sucks, their new album, “Codes and Keys,” drops May 31, and the Fairey video is below.