Pitchfork

Cute Death Alert! Bellingham, Washington's Death Cab for Cutie have announced a tour in support of the band's recent demo-reissue/rarities release, You Can Play These Songs with Chords. The eleven dates stretch across the west over February and March. Why go? Well, go to see if the Cab's got enough in the trunk to take over for the departing Dismemberment Plan as the nicest guys in indie pop. Go for the jokes as Chris Walla plays Walla Walla, Washington. Go because you're in freaking Omaha and there's nothing to do there anyway but... well, alright, Omaha's pretty hot right now. Umm... did we pick on Walla Walla yet?

In other DC4QT news, the band will, in fact, not be hitting the road with an 808 as a replacement for departed drummer Michael Schorr. An announcement came recently that the band have hired themselves a new permanent member: the decidedly human ex-Neo drummer Jason McGerr. McGerr has also taught classes for the awesomely named Seattle Drum School of Music-- with any luck, he'll be making the most of his teaching authority to dismiss showgoers to the restroom while on the road (but not before humilatingly querying whether or not it's an emergency). Dates:

02-22 Walla Walla, WA - Whitman College
02-28 Seattle, WA - Showbox (all-ages) *
03-01 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom *
03-07 San Francisco, CA - Slim's #
03-09 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour #
03-10 Las Vegas, NV - Huntridge Theater (w/John Vanderslice, Hella) #
03-13 Austin, TX - SXSW, Barsuk Records Showcase
03-16 Ft. Worth, TX - Ridglea Theater #
03-17 Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom #
03-18 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground with #
03-19 Boulder, CO - Fox Theater #

* - with The Thermals
# - with The Velvet Teen, The Thermals