Joining the Cuties on tour, which gets the green light October 1, are The Long Winters, Nada Surf, and Mates Of State. The supporting acts will hitch a ride in chunks of dates.

Speaking of chunks, a couple of multi-night engagements are on the books, including stops in Chicago, Cambridge (Ma.) and Seattle, where the outing wraps at the end of November.

The band has a new album coming out. Transatlanticism will be released in October and according to the group, “the songs are amazing, the production is super swell, and the cover art is shaping up to be quite spectacular as well.” They do like to toot their own horn.

Death Cab leader Ben Gibbard continues to flex his musical muscles outside the group. He, along with Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel, formed The Postal Service a couple of years ago.

The Postal Service finds Gibbard taking a more electronic approach to music than his work with Death Cab. But it’s a gamble that has paid off as the band has been quite an underground hit.

Even though Gibbard has been busy with The Postal Service projects this year, Death Cab For Cutie still managed to hit stages in March when they played a largely sold-out string of shows around the Pacific Northwest.