“Field Manual” – Chris Walla

Rating: 7/10

Chris Walla, the guitarist and producer of indie favorite Death Cab For Cutie has finally released his much anticipated debut solo album. The record has been scheduled to be out numerous times over the last few years, but certain roadblocks prevented the final release, like the US Department of Homeland Security.

After finishing work on the album in Canada, a courier was sent with the hard drive containing critical materials for the album back to the states to proceed with the final mixing of the songs. Suspicions arose in U.S. customs about the content of the hard drive, and it was confiscated and held to be analyzed by the computer forensics division. Luckily, Walla had the information from his hard drive on back-up tapes and a back-up drive and was able to make final touches on the album and release it January 29.

Though customs did not seize the hard drive because of the content of Walla’s songs, ironically many of the tracks are extremely political and covering very controversial issues. The album starts out with the eerie, hypnotic sounding “Two-Fifty.” The vocals are breathy and haunting as Chris chants “We need more than fun / we need a plan / a solution / we need efficiency.” He seems to point a finger at the U.S. administration and how our countless problems are not being solved.

Following that is “The Score,” which is about the ever-popular protest song topic, the war in Iraq. To me, this is becoming a little old. We are all upset about the war in Iraq, but how many more songs do we have to listen to about it?

“Everyone Needs A Home” addresses Hurricane Katrina, but the real surprise came when Walla attacked the “morning after pill” in the song “Sing Again,” questioning whether it is a contraceptive or a form of abortion. These topics are not always easy to think about, but as Chris Walla states, these are topics that we will be dealing with everyday.

If you can look past the deep political lyrics of some of the songs, the rest of the album is pretty enjoyable. Most of the tracks are slower and very calm, such as “A Bird Is A Home” and “Holes.”

These songs may not sound very difficult, but when you take into consideration that Walla played every instrument on the album except the drums, you appreciate the talent and hard work that went into the project.

“Geometry and Co.” is a catchy tune that helps to bring up the somber tone of some of the other tracks, but the opening guitar lick is almost identical to the beginning of Death Cab’s popular hit “Crooked Teeth.” As a fan of Death Cab, it is hard to overlook the immense similarities in their sound to Chris Walla’s.

Still, it is safe to say that if you like Death Cab For Cutie, you will probably like the mellow style of “Field Manual,” with its inner-mixing of catchier pop-like tunes scattered throughout, but if you are looking for something new, keep looking. This side project is not as good as the original.