Review: The Walkmen - You & Me

In 2004 The Walkmen were on top of their game. Indie dancefloor fillers like 'The Rat' and 'Little House of Savages', as well as an appearance on the O.C., brought them into the spotlight as one of the biggest acts during the garage rock revival. Unfortunately the album Bows + Arrows sacrificed a consistent LP for atmospheric, slow burning organ and piano songs that could not equal the power of the singles released from it. The next album A Hundred Miles Off received mixed reviews as well as a lack of promotion from Sony and their track-by-track cover of Harry Nilsson’s Pussycats was more or less unnoticed by the mainstream press. Now with a new record deal with Gigantic (or Fierce Panda for UK), the Walkmen return with their 5th, and arguably best album of their career.

The band have come a long way since the first album and precursor band Jonathan Fire*Eater. Gone are the slow, and sometimes awkward filler tracks, You & Me is packed with unforgettable tunes. Opening with 'Donda Esta La Playa', the mood of the album is set out immediately. Along with 'On The Water', the two tracks begin with rumbling cyclical riffs that allow Hamilton Leithauser’s vocals take centre stage. Both songs build to towering conclusions that are still dominated by Leithauser’s powerful voice telling of lost time and missed opportunities, this time accompanied by swelling organs and Paul Maroon’s yearning string arrangements. The album however is not full of dark, wistful songs. 'In The New Year' and 'Seven Years of Holiday' lighten the mood of the record. In particular, 'In The New Year' demonstrate how much the Walkmen have matured in their songwriting craft, as the guitar and organ seamlessly blend in together during the most memorable hook of the record.

Over the past eight years it has been fascinating to see how the Walkmen have changed. Originally compared to bands like Velvet Underground, early U2 and Television, You & Me seems to have been informed by Tom Waits, Roy Orbison, Nebraska-era Springsteen. This is highlighted by the band’s confidence to include eloquently personal ballads like ‘Red Moon’, ‘New Country’ and ‘If Only It Were True’. The confidence in Leithauser is no doubt the focal point in the album, not only in his delivery where he consistently pushes his voice out without any nervous tension, but his lyrics have definitely grown up from ‘See my aged 19 with some dumb haircut from 1960’ (see ‘We’ve Been Had’). Instead of songs about Bukowski-esque awkwardness and youthful frustration, here we find songs about being the only bachelor in a friend circle of newlyweds (‘In the New Year') and exhausted relationships.

This is not to say the rest of the band hasn’t changed with the singer. Their first two records relied mostly on clattering pianos and ADD-driven drumming, the rhythm section are much more relaxed, providing a shimmering interplay between the organ and guitar seen on ‘I Lost You’, while the drums and bass sustain the groove throughout the album, the band’s maturation has arrived in time for easily one of the most brooding albums of the year.

In fact, if one word were used to describe You & Me, it would be mature. Unlike the glut of alternative acts that are still trying to produce transparent indie-disco anthems, the Walkmen have managed create the perfect soundtrack to the loneliness and melancholy of staying in on a Friday night.