The Walkmen and McClusky

Anyone heard that new split ep thing on troubleman that just came out?

The Walkmen sound bored? The guy's voice is full of enthusiasm, humor (not sure if this is the right word -- it's whatever best represents "the emotion of finding things funny"), pathos... and he sounds like he's a young guy who's having a blast being in a rock 'n' roll band.

Maybe there was a mix-up at the pressing plant, because the disc I have has a guy drawling sleepily all over it. On every damn song.

I prefer the French Kicks to Band X (labeled as "Walkmen"). They work in a similar vein and their 2000 EP kicks my butt, but their full-length this year suffers from the same snooziness.

Also, I don't mean to be the prick who swoops in and dismisses everybody else's favorite, even though I guess I kind of was. My apologies. Although an opposing viewpoint is fun sometimes, no?

Hey, man... it's not JFE's fault they were critically overhyped and then their records didn't go anywhere. I won't blame the band's career nosedive on anything other than the fickle weirdness of the music industry. You may be right about the Walkmen, but I think their record's really good, and I'll prolly be responsible for their career demise when I put Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone on my year-end list.

what about the fact that it was an aimless suckfest of anti-epic proportions?

(nb: i have not heard the walkmen and bear them no ill will. yet.)

A lot of popular albums are aimless suckfests, too.

(I liked Wolf Songs for Lambs, though.)

Actually, I'm with Jody on this one. (Surprise.) The Walkmen are a great and original band, and the album is great. So there you have it.

Dreadful band name, but this equation makes them sound fairly inviting. Do they have anything out stateside?

The first album "My Pain and Sadness is More Sad and Painful Than Yours" is probably not easy to find Stateside. I'd suggest you get it at a gig if you can and don't order any expensive imports, I got mine very cheap at a gig, but that was a long time ago. Actually maybe this is not great advice as I have since seen them live again and the sound was dreadful, maybe it wasn't their fault but it was no fun at all and gave me a huge headache, or maybe I was just not in the mood after the blissful drone/kraut of Circle (a bizarre choice of opener but I wanted it to work because I like both bands).

Apologies for the illegibility of this post.

Saw the Walkmen tonight and I'm pleased to say that this is indeed the case -- Hamilton Leithauser is a very expressive frontman, running the gamut from exhilaration to icy meanness, depending on what the song calls for. He said he was sick, but he still looked like he was enjoying himself.

P.S. Their encore was a well-handled cover of the Kinks' "Come Dancing."

Look, I think I just don't get the Walkmen, and I know I was a prick in the way I voiced my non-appreciation of their music. (I have specifically re-listened to Friends with what you said and mind, and I still can't hear it.) But...

Should anyone find it surprising that after going to the gig of a band whose disc you think is amongst the best of the year, that you would come out agreeing with yourself? Not that you couldn't change your mind either, but the fact that you still think the same thing just isn't news.

Well, uh, the whole thing was that you said the singer sounded bored, and I refuted that (based on only having heard their record), and when I saw them live, he definitely did not seem bored. A live performance can reveal things about a performer that an album can't.

And yes, you do sound like a prick. But I won't hold it against you.

Thanks.

(Maybe I'll start after this one since this one is neither.)

Good idea.

yep... one in the spring and another later in the year that's a cover of nilsson's pussy cats. as of last week their myspace page had a streaming mp3 up of one of the new songs, "louisiana" (supposedly written pre-katrina and nothing to do with "louisiana 1927").

the last album leaked really early so i'm guessing this one will too.

*sigh*
both memories now...
except for the Walkmen.