Field Manual

Field Manual
Chris Walla
(Barsuk, 2008)
Rating: 55%

I like I stated in my very first post, I am a huge Death Cab For Cutie fan. In spite of digging their new record quite a bit, I fear that Atlantic Records may have sucked the life from them. A good argument for this would be DCFC guitarist/producer extraordinaire Chris Walla’s debut solo outing, Field Manual.

I won’t go as far as to say it’s a terrible record. Despite what some other critics have said, it isn’t that much like a Death Cab album. It’s simpler and more straightforward. The lyrics are lacking that lovelorn style that Ben Gibbard embodies, which would be a bonus for some. Instead they take a political turn, making it the least offensive sounding album about politics ever perhaps.

Where Field Manual fails is pretty much everywhere. The songs are nowhere close to being interesting. They could be catchy, if Walla had more of a grasp on the concept of melody. It doesn’t help that his voice just sucks. Bad voice plus boring songs plus unmemorable melodies equals poor pop music output.

I don’t want to admit this, but whether you think Death Cab is boring tripe or not, you will most definitely want to take a pass on Field Manual.