A thread for The Walkmen - You & Me - 2008 cause surprisingly, it's good

i didn't like the last one very much. seemed to be trying to sound so dylan all the time. this different?

i didnt even bother for the last one...
i thought theres no chance of anything good by them no more, but i was wrong.

ok , so basiclly it's classic singer/songwriters influence(Dylan,Cohen,Newman,r@b stuff) meets minimalist (though not lo-fi whatsoever) modern indie rock in the tradition of the loud, trebly guitars,drums and bombastic vocals.
intersting,works fine, even if they lack a sense of humour.

also, "in the new year" is the new "rat".

(sorry for the fucked up spelling)

this is heartening. the stuff on the last one (that I heard) just didn't do it for me at all. it actually took me a while to come around to the first two, mostly because of the guy's voice. but they were really good-to-great in most other respects.

singer/songwriter influence (Dylan,Cohen,Newman,r@b stuff) meets minimalist (though not lo-fi whatsoever) modern indie rock

Please say it's more Carl Newman than Bob Dylan. Please.

also, "in the new year" is the new "rat".

This got my attention. Looks like a lot of people on this thread -- like me -- gave up on this band after the last disc. Hopefully, we were wrong. I'd be happy to have been wrong.

well, You and Me looks like their most consistent effort, so it might be their best.(though it's really easy, cause even the "best" Walkmen records have too many weak moments in them imo)
xpost

and it's Randy, Duh.

or is Zeno referring to Randy Newman? I know those dudes had a Nillson fixation there for a while, too.

too bad JF*E never really did much. I've been pretty obsessed with that stuff fore the last few months...

xp,

Nilsson

usually i hate those bands who "mature" into the boring seriousness of classic songwriters influence (like nick cave did for example), but i think this one would be an exception

"those dudes had a Nillson fixation there for a while"

they also played some Leonard Cohen covers in the dayrotter session or something

and it's Randy, Duh.

Randy Newman? UGGGHHHH. . .

usually i hate those bands who "mature" into the boring seriousness of classic songwriters influence (like nick cave did for example)

^^disagree strongly with this esp. in light of grinderman and dig lazerus dig (and actually abbatoir/lyre had some funny stuff like when he cracks up the gospel backup singers in "hiding" i love that moment")

hey, this is--unexpectedly-- pretty good!

nice and autumnal

Yeah, I'd given up after the last one as well. Definite return to form.

it's good, but i couldnt stand listening to it more than 2 weeks or so - maybe cause they take themselves too seriously or maybe cause the singer tends to be annoying

Don't know why, but I've always liked this band. Even "100 Miles" grew on me.

Whatever happened to Stuart Luptan?

i still think their first album is the best rock album of the decade so far... they're still fucking awesome live, too.

Yep, this album is pretty great. My third-favorite of the year.

This grew on me, a lot. I like aping the strangulated vocals

I dropped it into shuffle for a roadtrip and every time a track came up I'd think "oh what's this, it's a little too on-the-nose dylany"

The first Walkmen album is still the best Walkmen album. But this one's alright.

^^^

though sub. "alright" for "really good" imo

ask kevin keller

Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone [Startime International, 2002]
Just what we always wanted--Jonathan Fire*Eater grows up. Put some DreamWorks money into a studio, that was mature. Realized Radiohead was the greatest band in the world, brainy. Stopped playing so fast, hoo boy. And most important, switched vocalists from Nick Cave imitator to Rufus Wainwright imitator. Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth, and not only that, Cave has more literary ability. New York scene or (hint hint) no New York scene, DreamWorks isn't buying. C+

In all seriousness, are there people who actually respect Robert Christgau? What does any of this even mean?

Anyway... re: Whatever happened to Stuart Luptan?

― Pinto Basin, Monday, October 13, 2008 4:45 PM (1 month ago)

He has a band called Child Ballads that has a few great songs (they released an EP on Loog records this past year), and he's been playing solo around DC... I think he has a show in the next couple weeks.

"I lost you" is officially closing every mix tape i make for the rest of the year. i love that song soso much

Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth
Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth

"i lost you" is still their best song, man, fuck

such a sad, perfect, forgotten record

That is a great song. All their albums are pretty patchy imo, I actually thought Leithauser's album was surprisingly consistent by comparison.

incredible live band. their set was heavy on this record (appropriately, as it’s their best)

Xgau couldn’t be more wrong about that record in particular