Chris Walla
Field Manual

To some of you, the name Chris Walla might not mean much at all.

However, for those who are accustomed to listening to certain American indie rock, the mere mention of this name will make their eyes light up; good old Chris is, in fact, the guitarist of one of the absolutely essential bands of the genre, the immense Death Cab For Cutie. Simultaneously, he also leads a career as a highly sought-after indie producer (just consider the names that have used his work: Hot Hot Heat, The Thermals, The Decemberists, Nada Surf, and Tegan And Sara among others).

"Field Manual" (originally titled "It's Unsustainable") is Walla's new solo work: but it is not, as some claim, his debut. Already in 1999, a young Chris ventured into a solo project titled "Martin Youth Auxiliary", released on cassette under Elsinor. For this occasion, however, Walla chose Barsuk, the former record label of Death Cab before they deservedly moved to a major (Atlantic).

The new solo project arrives three years after the excellent "Plans", an album that definitively illuminated the star of Death Cab in the international rock firmament, and it "foretells" the band's new work, "Narrow Stairs", scheduled for May 13 and already preceded by the beautiful single "I Will Possess Your Heart".

In terms of sound, the album moves in territories related to the sounds proposed in "Plans", but there is something new (indeed, different) nonetheless: see some parts of the guitar more robust than the production labeled Death Cab, especially in "The Score" and "Geometry &C", or pleasant reminiscences of R.E.M. (in the "Green" vein) as in "Everybody On". The playful and stuttering six-string of the lead single "Sing Again" is inviting, while the linear and geometric opening "Two-Fifty" is adequate. "Archer V. Light" is very interesting and sounds like a sort of Walla's personal "My Sharona". There are also more subdued and introspective moments, but never inconsistent with the rest of the work ("A Bird Is A Song", "It's Unsustainable" and "Holes"). Chris's vocal quality is good but not outstanding, with a bit of comparison to Gibbard being felt.

Ultimately, it is erroneous to consider "Field Manual" a simple divertissement; it is a beautiful, fully formed album with a remarkable personality, pleasing and exuding quality writing and execution from every pore (Walla played all instruments except the drums on some tracks).

And now, on to Death Cab.

Key tracks: "Geometry &C", "Everyone Needs A Home", "It's Unsustainable"