New Walkmen - "In The New Year"
At the beginning of the month, we mentioned the Walkmen's forthcoming fourth collection You & Me. The press release name-dropped Elvis, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Randy Newman, the Modern Lovers, and the Pogues. It's hard to tell if this roll call's fulfilled on the basis of one track, but Dylan should be kept in mind for enunciation purposes, and there's a Strokesian swagger to the way some cadences roll of Hamilton's tongue. Lyrically, "In The New Year" finds Leithauser at his old address, watching loved ones move some (sisters are married, etc). Adding to life's everyday motion, he's battling against the dense ragamuffin instrumentation of his band (clattering drums, woozy organ), which ups the urgency of his rasp.
The Walkmen - "In The New Year" (MP3)
The plan: Enunciate your hopes and resolutions, get home through the snow and therapy, before you drown in those cymbals.
You & Me is out this fall via Gigantic. August finds the guys playing shows:
08/18 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
08/19 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
08/21 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
08/22 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
08/27 Portland @ Doug Fir
08/28 Vancouver, Canada @ Richards on Richard (w/ Man Man)
08/29 Victoria (Rifflandia Festival)
08/30 Seattle, WA (Bumbershoot Festival)
Posted at 4:22 PM by brandon in MP3, Tour Dates
Tags: The Walkmen
Leithauser's singing is terrific. It's still the same gruff howling, but this time the tone is so much lighter and carefree. Sounds like he's trying new things. Does anyone else think his vocals are getting to be some of the best in rock today?
These guys are the real deal. It's gonna be a good year, indeed.
Score = 2
can't listen to the song from my work comuputer, but I have a feeling this next album will be good... after the slump of Hundred Miles Off and that Nilsson thing, they're due for a resurge
Score = 2
I like this.
A really good band. They have such an awesome drummer. And their first album was under-rated.
Score = 2
Sounds great. More so than their previous releases, You & Me may have better captured the band's live sound; in particular Ham's voice and the way the guitar and organ rings in your ears (in the best of ways). Great band. Can't wait to hear this whole album.
Score = 2
Stroksian?
I thought it was Walkmensian...
Score = 3
fuck the strokes, the walkmen are the underrated trailblazers.
Score = 3
Hey, it's great, it reminds me to Everyone who pretend...!
Score = 0
This is a great song, but the biggest thing that held back A Hundred Miles Off was the murky production and it's sounding like they may have went in the same sonic direction with You & Me. For instance, if a track like All Hands and the Cook was recorded during the Bows + Arrows sessions, I'm confident that it would have sounded much more like the monstrous show-stopper that it is live. There is something to be said for recording an album in live takes (what other band could pull it off?) but Matt's drums can't be buried in the mix!
Score = 0
I'm so sick of people trashing 100 Miles Off. It's got one or two so-so songs but the rest are fucking genius. Production too murky? Are you kidding? It was their cleanest yet. Get real. Sure, it's not Everyone ... but it's fucking prime.
Score = 1
agreed... I've listened to 100 miles more than any other walkmen album. didn't quite understand what everyone's problem with it was. bows + arrows was a masterpiece but 100 miles may be more fun.
Score = 0
It's gonna be a good year...
Score = 0
Just picked up the new album for $5 with proceeds going to fight childhood lukemia. Absolutely fantastic album, a great cause and an amazing price.
I can't wait to see these guys again when they come to Vancouver.
Details about purchasing their album at their website.
Score = 0