Chris Walla is best known for being the guitarist in Death Cab for Cutie. Or he's known as a producer for Tegan & Sara and the Decemberists. Or maybe you heard about the little incident he had with Homeland Security confiscating his computer last fall. Now Walla's got another reason for notability: his first solo album, Field Manual, out today on Barsuk Records. Singer-songwriter stuff ain't exactly our bag, but Walla's smooth delivery ensures that even the more overtly political songs go down easy. Above is the video for first single "Sing Again," which was filmed in Portland and features about 9,000 cameos from Walla's friends/other Northwest artists. Betcha can't name 'em all!

In other bands-with-local-ties-and-albums-out-today news, the self-titled release from The Shackeltons is now available from John Richards' Loveless Records. The angular Pennsylvanian post-punk/indie quintet are currently touring the East Coast until March, when they head to Austin for South by Southwest. And after that, maybe they'll come here - hmm, please? For the time being, sate yourself with the band's revamped webpage.