While critics and sensitive indie-rocker types went nuts for Death Cab for Cutie front man Ben Gibbard and his sensitive glitch-pop side project The Postal Service, Death Cab’s guitarist Chris Walla has been building a spectacular resumé as a producer. After turning knobs for such hipsters as Nada Surf and The Thermals, he brings his talent as a musician, producer and song craftsman to the fore on Field Manual.
Initially, Walla sounds like a less wussy version of Ben Lee, but as Field Manual plays, it’s clear there is much more going on. “The Score” is a genius rocker that has deft political overtones for those who are looking; “Geometry &c” is a beautiful, poppy call to love, complete with a smirking “da de dum dum” sing-along; and “Archer v. Light” calls out the hypocrisy of the political and religious right with a driving beat and loping bass line. Walla doesn’t veer too far from the emotional foundation that he helped build in Death Cab, but he doesn’t need to. With fragile guitar leads, quivering synth and a breathy vocal delivery, Field Manual is as good as anything Walla has ever put his name on. There isn’t a single misstep on the record, and like any good pop album, the more you listen to it, the better it gets.
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