Pitchfork

Next time you challenge Death Cab for Cutie to a round of Call of Duty 4, be warned: you're going toe-to-toe with a posse of chart-topping megastars. Narrow Stairs, the second major label offering and sixth studio full-length disc overall from the Pacific Northwest behemoth, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 this week, besting the #4 debut of Plans back in 2005.

The set sold a cool 144,000 copies, enough to beat some dead guy and retire last week's first-time chart-topper Neil Diamond to seventh place status, plus a good 54,000 more than the 90,000 Plans moved in its first week. To celebrate this milestone, Death Cab will, er, kick off that tour they had already planned on Saturday.

Death:

05-24 Bend, OR - Les Schwab Amphitheater ^
05-25 George, WA - The Gorge (Sasquatch!)
05-26 Lehi, UT - Thanksgiving Point %*
05-28 Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre %
05-30 Kansas City, MO - City Market %
05-31 Columbia, MO - Ninth Street Summerfest %
06-02 Minneapolis, MN - Orpheum Theatre %
06-03 Chicago, IL - Millennium Park Pritzker Pavilion %
06-04 Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre %#
06-06 Montreal, Quebec - Jacques Cartier Pier %
06-07 Toronto, Ontario - Olympic Island %+
06-09 Columbia, MD - Merriweather Post Pavilion %
06-10 Brooklyn, NY - McCarren Park Pool %
06-12 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts %
06-13 Cleveland, OH - Plain Dealer Pavilion %
06-14 Indianapolis, IN - The Lawn at White River State %
06-15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-17 Grand Prairie, TX - Nokia Theatre %
06-19 Mesa, AZ - Mesa Amphitheatre %
06-20 San Diego, CA - SDSU Open Air Theatre %
06-21 Berkley, CA - Greek Theatre %
06-23 Los Angeles, CA - Nokia Theatre %
06-24 Santa Barbara, CA - Santa Barbara Bowl %
07-03 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-05 Arvika, Sweden - Arvikafestivalen
07-07 Paris, France - Alhambra $
07-08 Antwerp, Belgium - Riverenhof $
07-09 Cologne, Germany - Live Music Hall $
07-10 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg $
07-11 Berlin, Germany - Kesselhaus $
07-12 Hamburg, Germany - Grosse Freiheit 36 $
07-15 Birmingham, England - Academy $
07-16 Manchester, England - Ardwick Green $
07-17 London, England - Brixton Academy $
07-18 London, England - Henham Park (Latitude Festival)
07-20 Benicàssim, Spain - Benicàssim Festival
07-27 Pemberton, British Columbia - Pemberton Festival
08-09 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival
08-10 Osaka, Japan - Summer Sonic Festival

^ with the Decemberists, Mates of State
% with Rogue Wave
* with Tegan and Sara
# with Sea Wolf
+ with Stars, Young Galaxy
$ with Styrofoam