You, Me and The Walkmen
You & Me becomes an early favorite for 2008 top ten lists
The Walkmen
You & Me
Released on Aug 19, 2008
Front man Hamilton Leithauser opens The Walkmen's new album with the line "it's back to the battle today," but in the war for our hearts and minds, the New York band easily wins us over again. With a midsection heavy with tracks as hard-hitting as ever, The Walkmen build on their past critical success and solidify their spot as one of America's best rock bands.
The opening track "Dónde Está La Playa" features the fuzzy distortion and reverb-heavy guitar work we've come to expect from the band. After an underdeveloped instrumental track, You & Me really picks up with "On The Water". The thumping bass and percussion keep us truckin' along, while Leithauser's vocals echo Bob Dylan's eccentricity. The song grows more intense as Leithauser's slurs and slides become high-pitched yelps and the band pulls out all the bells and whistles - literally.
The album's most accessible track may well be "In The New Year". Reverb-heavy guitars introduce us to a track that takes us from the 60s to the 70s with Leithauser yelping "it's gonna be a good year" over The Doors-era organs. With "On The Water" and "In The New Year" still ringing beautifully in our ears, The Walkmen are nowhere near finished with their musical genius. In "Postcards From Tiny Islands", the band experiments with rolling percussion and guitar so slurry and slippery that the notes are almost indistinguishable.
Darkness inhabits "Red Moon", with the lyrics "you shine like the steel of my knife" and horns borrowed from a funeral procession we might hear from Neutral Milk Hotel or Beirut. Yet "Canadian Girl" takes us back to the 50s, with a bluesy guitar that sounds like it was recorded in a high school gymnasium and vocals melodic enough to have warranted radio play back then.
Click-clack percussion drives "Four Provinces" until the guitar descends a downward spiral of sadness and tambourines and cymbals crash in chaos. "Long Time Ahead Of Us" begins with a bass- and drum-driven beat so minimalist it almost sounds electronic, but the track builds with piano picked like a harp, beautiful guitar, a funeral parlor organ and a horn section. In "The Blue Route", Leithauser's vocals sound as raspy as Joe Cocker's or Rod Stewart's when he asks, "What happened to you?" Melodic guitar, soaring strings and a wood block climax as Leithauser envisions "blackbirds in the sky and a hundred fireflies." The beautifully meditative guitar in "New Country" takes the pace and pitch of the album down a notch and the closing tracks are quiet and slow in comparison to the more rock-oriented tracks in the middle.
It's hard to believe it's already time to start thinking about best of 2008 lists, but keep The Walkmen's You & Me in mind because it will probably pop up on a number of them. "On The Water" and "In The New Year" are obvious standouts, but the album's midsection is strong enough to warrant such a coveted designation. And by borrowing instruments, sounds and styles from the 50s, 60s and 70s but using them in their own unique way, The Walkmen ensure that their music is both a part of America's rock monolith and a unique memento of the current century.
High Point
With two songs as masterful as 2004's "The Rat" and a midsection that's bloated with equally amazing tracks, You & Me is a steal for the $5 it costs at Amie Street. Did I mention The Walkmen are playing The Metro on September 12?
Low Point
If there is a low point on You & Me, it's the underdeveloped, one minute and eleven second instrumental track "Flamingos (For Colbert)."
Posted by Ben Wadington on Aug 19, 2008 @ 8:02 am
