Pitchfork: Death Cab Cancel European Tour

We here at Pitchfork realize that not only are constant updates on Death Cab for Cutie getting old, so are our half-hearted attempts at justifying them. But when a higher power hands you a story, you kind of have to take it. That's right: God himself, in his role as the primary cause of inexplicable human misery, has put a crimp in Death Cab's tour plans.

The European leg of the band's ongoing (and seemingly endless) tour had to be cancelled recently because of an intensely painful cyst on Ben Gibbard's leg. Though the cyst is luckily benign, Gibbard needed surgery as soon as the North American portion of the tour ended in Vancouver on November 12th. And when he got a prescription from the doctor with "p-n3x ST" written on it-- that's medical notation for "three weeks rest, and no touring with Blink 182"-- well, he really had no choice. The band will take a break from touring and, once recuperated, will record a new album, their first for Atlantic Records.