The Walkmen

Bows & Arrows

December 20, 2004

# 2

The Walkmen make music from another planet. I’m serious. Merely hearing a few shimmering guitar chords from any song, or a few organ sounds flutter from your speakers and there is no doubt something otherworldly is going on. Take, for example, the opening tryst What’s In It For Me, the first song on their second album Bows and Arrows. Built around a simple distorted organ melody that sounds as if it is coming from some demented underground church in Brooklyn, the song slowly builds with some distant drum pounding and some modest guitar playing (I think). Actually, I have no idea what the hell is going on, but somehow, it all seems to work and somehow even seems beautiful, like some lullaby one alien life form might sing to another before they close their eyes and rest for a while out at lover’s lane, that is, if aliens have such a thing.

Then there’s The Rat, the second most commercially viable song The Walkmen have ever released (if you’re familiar with the Saturn commercial from a couple years ago, well, We’ve Been Had’s otherworldly piano riff is vintage Walkmen). The Rat is a remarkable hard rock number, with lead singer Hamilton Leithauser’s menacing scowl punctuating the driving percussion and scratchy guitar. This song alone shows that The Walkmen could be a top performer on modern rock radio if they so chose, but for our benefit, this song alone is just about the only one that can be easily pinned down.

The rest of the album is all over the map. The North Pole is tremendous musically and lyrically as it chronicles the nonsense of seeing a lost love after the fact. It is dripping with bitter, dark emotion yet somehow manages to remain joyous at the same time, a definite Walkmen hallmark. The fierce guitar speeds up on My Old Man, a rollicking masterpiece that is beyond proper description and perhaps the best song on the entire album. The droning organ returns on Hang on, Siobhan, a song that I suppose could only be described as Walkmen acoustic, even if there isn’t an unplugged guitar in the house. Siobhan is the most haunting song on the album and is unlike any rock song I have ever heard. Then there’s the closer, Bows and Arrows, which pretty much brings together all the quirks and trademarks of The Walkmen for one final salute to true alternative rock music in 2004. The whole thing amounts to some sort of dream like hangover remembrance of the good, the bad, and the ugly of relationships past and present and the joys and sorrows of living through the experiences. Both touching and detached, this is music unlike anything I have ever been privy to.

As enamored as I am with Bows and Arrows now, I must admit it took me several months and numerous plays to figure it out. At first, I compared it to The Walkmen’s debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone. That album was very good and seemed out of time from the current trend of overproduction with its detached music and melodies. Many of the songs seemed as if they might have been recorded live, with snares popping, voices cracking, and guitar sounds fading in and out. The first time I heard them live, with We’ve Been Had on The Tonight Show, all I could do was lie on my bed, jaw agape, mesmerized that these guys had somehow found their way onto NBC. Even though they appeared very much in control and in their element, something about the whole thing just didn’t fit. And that little disconnect was fascinating.

In contrast, my first impression of Bows and Arrows was that it was much more upfront in its presentation, with the hard rock songs sticking out as clear cut superiors to the more melancholy, contemplative ballads. Were The Walkmen actually becoming a band that would look and sound at home on NBC? Perusing the album, I was happy with the singles, but very disappointed with the seemingly lesser quality songs and most surely (or so I thought) with the change in direction that seemed to be catering toward gaining more mainstream exposure and taking less risks. My entire Bows and Arrows experience in the beginning became somewhat of a letdown for me, and I had nearly given up on the album. But very surprisingly, after a number of months listening to a few songs here and there, a strange thing happened: the album as a whole finally made sense to me. Instead of just picking a song or two here and there and dismissing the others, I began running through the entire album from start to finish and revisiting songs that I had initially passed over, the nuances of these hidden gems becoming ever more dramatic. Like Interpol’s Turn on the Bright Lights, with each listen I appreciated something new and miraculously, seemed to gain a new favorite each time. Now, some 9 months later, Bows and Arrows has, in my opinion, surpassed Everyone Who Pretended… I insist it is the stronger album as I now more fully appreciate its diversity and connect with the songs on an individual level and with the album as a whole as much or more than Everyone… and any other album this year, save one.

In conclusion, I love The Walkmen, and Bows and Arrows in particular, because what it does best is transport me to a whole other world, very much like my own, but somehow more dark, dirty, and raucous. It is a place that could exist in reality but is more real in memory, very much in the vein of my own greatest embellished remembrances. Bows and Arrows is a proper lament that avoids every single cliché in the book, never takes shortcuts in delivering the goods, and is as bold and majestic in its presentation and philosophy than anything else currently on the market. It may take many months and many listens to appreciate what is going on with The Walkmen, but in my opinion, it is well worth the effort. This is a band that, probably more than any other of the last several years, I believe has a very bright future ahead.

Additional Note: With Christmas less than a week away, I highly recommend buzzing over to this site:

http://www.gloriousnoise.com/arch/001461_walkmen.php

There, you can get in the holiday spirit with a free download of The Christmas Party, The Walkmen’s very own original holiday song. This song is so awesome that a day hasn’t gone by in December that I haven’t listened to it. Actually, this is probably the song I would sing if faced with a Christmas karaoke proposition. Two sheets to the wind, this is a Christmas ditty not soon to be forgotten. So put another log on the fire, enjoy your egg nog with a gulp instead of a sip, and let The Walkmen wish you a very merry Christmas.