Death Cab Frontman Soundtracks Kerouac Documentary

Death Cab For Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard and Son Volt singer/guitarist Jay Farrar have recorded a collaborative record, One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur, that will serve as the soundtrack to a documentary of the same name about author Jack Kerouac. The album and film will be released Oct. 20.

Kerouac is probably best known for penning 1957's On The Road, which chronicled the Beat Generation and was based on Kerouac's own experiences, but One Fast Move Or I'm Gone is a documentary about Kerouac's 1962 autobiographical novel, Big Sur.

In it, the protagonist holes himself up in a cabin near Big Sur, Calif. in an attempt to kick his alcoholism. (It's worth noting Kerouac died in 1969 of internal hemorrhaging caused by cirrhosis of the liver due to his own alcoholism.)

"On The Road is the early episode of optimism and youth and traveling across the country and three days on speed and pulling into town and seeing your friends and being loud in bars," Gibbard told Paste magazine.

"I've always really loved Big Sur because Big Sur is kind of the wake up call after the night of binge drinking."

Gibbard and Farrar, who are both huge Kerouac fans, were contacted by the documentary's filmmakers in 2007 and asked to write music for it. Farrar told Billboard.com 90 per cent of the disc's lyrics draw from the novel itself, and the disc was recorded over three years. Farrar and Gibbard began recording the songs for One Fast Move Or I'm Gone in 2007, and hadn't met each other before their initial session.

Farrar sings and plays guitar, percussion and harmonica on One Fast Move Or I'm Gone, while Gibbard sings and plays guitar and drums. Both musicians are joined by pedal steel player Brad Sarno, bassist Aaron Espinoza and multi-instruemtalist Mark Spencer on the album.

One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur will be available on vinyl, as a CD, as a CD/DVD package and a boxed set containing the CD, DVD, the novel and a 40-page book about the documentary.

Gibbard and Farrar have plans to tour together in support of the documentary and album, but no dates have been announced yet.

Here's the trailer for One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur:

Here are the songs on the soundtrack to One Fast Move Or I'm Gone: Kerouac's Big Sur:

"California Zephyr"
"Low Life Kingdom"
"City And Sur (Willamine)"
"All In One"
"Breath Our Iodine"
"These Roads Don't Move"
"Big Sur"
"One Fast Move Or I'm Gone"
"Final Horrors"
"Sea Engines"
"The Void"
"San Francisco"