“President of What?” by Death Cab for Cutie

"President of What?" is on Something About Airplanes, the 1998 debut Death Cab for Cutie released on Barsuk, a thoroughly homemade record. Benjamin Gibbard wrote it, words and music, and Chris Walla produced and recorded it, then mixed it with Nathan Good.

The album was made in the band's rented house off Ellis Street in Bellingham, on an eight-track reel-to-reel, with Walla's bedroom up in the attic and a microphone fed through a hole in the floor so vocals could be tracked in the living room below. Gibbard had Built to Spill's Perfect from Now On on constant rotation back then, with slower bands like Rex and Bedhead close behind, and he later owned up to some blatant Built to Spill borrowing on the record. Indie rock made with duct tape and nerve.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.