Barsuk
2008
Field Manual
About This Album
After years of yielding the spotlight to fellow Death Cabber Ben Gibbard, Chris Walla finally moves to center stage with Field Manual. Fans of Death Cab's Transatlanticism (particularly the album's second half, with its emphasis on ballads and slow-motion moodiness) will be pleased with this solo effort, since Field Manual delivers the same brand of reflective, mid-tempo indie pop. Even the faster songs seem to rarely break a sweat (with the exception of standout track "The Score"), and their quickened pace takes a backseat role to Walla's gauzy vocals and politically minded lyrics. There's nothing like "I'll Follow You into the Dark" here, no song so adorably sweet and saccharine that teenagers will clamor to slow-dance to it at their high school proms. Instead, Walla targets the head -- not the heart -- while delivering songs about crooked senators, sustainability, and American soldiers. "All hail an imminent collapse," he sings on the first track, opening the album with several seconds of layered a cappella. "You can fumble for your maps, but we're exhausted by the facts." The political commentary is sharp, and Walla smartly refuses to channel the "Rise up!" spirit of someone like Bruce Springsteen, since an indie pop release simply couldn't bear that kind of weight.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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