When a solo artist sits down to self-produce an album, he's usually either feeling his way around his producer's duties or, conversely, a seasoned studio pro letting his inner songwriter shine as a vanity project. Chris Walla's neither: As guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie, he's been an integral part of one of the most far-reaching indie bands of his generation; as a producer, he's not only twisted knobs for Death Cab, but guided everyone from The Decemberists and Tegan and Sara to Nada Surf and The Stratford 4.

Walla's dual attack shows through on Field Manual, as his solo debut is all about finding the right mood, feel and studio angle for his spacious indie pop -- and doing it in a way that avoids sounding like a producer using every trick in his arsenal to polish up his shaky songs. Rather, it's a strong producer working with a strong artist that just happens to be himself. Even if it's abundantly clear that Walla studied at Ben Gibbard's elbow -- the fragile vocals and smooth melodic sense are descended in a right-hand line from Death Cab's formula -- Field Manual has enough breadth to be more than just a DCFC spin-off.

Most of that depth comes from Walla's ability to break from the pop-band format of guitar, bass and drums and harness his producer's skills not as a means to capture and define songs, but as a basis for the songs themselves. Walla shifts gears so effortlessly between vocals-and-ambient pop tunes that pull the spirit of the Beach Boys into the age of modern production ("Two Fifty") to a clever master of both power-pop drums and that half-jangly half-ethereal sound of Pacific Northwestern pop ("Archer v. Light") so effortlessly inattentive listeners might miss it. Other times, his versatility is easier to spot. In "A Bird is a Song," an acoustic guitar figure unfolds with utmost delicacy, as drones of keyboards eventually sneak into the song to give it some body. "The Score," with uncharacteristically distorted guitars and simple Who-styled riffing, is forceful enough to surprise anyone expecting Death Cab's demure pop to rule the show, and "Everybody On" would be just another strummy acoustic singer/songwriter affair if Walla didn't masterfully unleash half the capabilities of a multi-track studio to transform it into a lush, if reserved, dose of sun-shower pop.

Walla might not be the indie world's uber-producer, and he's certainly not one of its songwriting luminaries. But when taken as a whole, his skill set helps set him apart. Because of Walla's in-studio decisions, Field Manual ends up coming off as more adventuresome and, surprisingly, with a little more depth than that album Death Cab's been polishing or rehashing (take your pick) for years now.

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