Chris Walla, producer and guitarist for Death Cab for Cutie, has made headlines recently over a hard drive confiscated by Homeland Security, but he wishes things could just go back to the way they were. He's hard at work putting finishing touches on a solo album for release in January, and about to head into the studio for the next DCFC record.

They have six songs somewhat in the can - recorded but not edited yet - and expect to have about 20 to choose from by January. After their first major studio release, Plans, sold 920,000 copies, they've decided to return to their roots and produce a follow-up that's a lot looser and not as shiny as Plans.

They're recording in DCFC drummer Jason McGerr's studio. "He built a place in Seattle called Two Sticks. It's a really cool studio, with this clubhouse vibe. We have a couple of those little handheld Nintendos in there."

Walla also announced the whole thing will be done on tapes, making it linear and more interesting than the cut-and-paste method.

"I'm going to deliver tapes to Atlantic [Records], and see if they know what to do with those."

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