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Avg: 4.5 (142 ratings)
- Date Released: March 26, 2002
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Startime International
Former New York It Band picks up the pieces and moves on.
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We Say...
F. Scott Fitzgerald once famously said that "there are no second acts in American life." But New York isn't America and Walkmen singer Hamilton Leithauser isn't Jay Gatsby, though they share a certain provincial streak. Three members of the Walkmen were once in Jonathan Fire*Eater, a New York It Band that crashed before they even took off. That prior failure weighs on the Walkmen, who sound more mature and business-like than any of their contemporaries. "This'll all go away in a second, buddy," they seem to say. Their music is soft and incredibly kinetic, the omnipresent keyboards buzzing like Magic Fingers and drummer Matt Barrick riding his open hi-hat like it was the last lifeboat on the Titanic. There are four absolute musts on this disc: "Wake Up" ("Taps" for twentysomethings), "The Blizzard of '96" (wind chime-rock), "We've Been Had" (epic/awesome/killer/amazing — take your pick) and the title track (modern R&B vocals, rhythm section cold-rockin' it).
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They Say...
Waves of dark, shimmering guitar riffs cascade over you as the Walkmen conjure up ghosts of the Velvet Underground on "They're Winning," the introduction to the band's debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. Made up of three survivors of the industry's one-time "future of rock & roll" band, Jonathan Fire*Eater (organist Walter Martin, guitarist Paul Maroon, and drummer Matt Barrick), along with bassist Peter Bauer and vocalist Hamilton Leithauser, the Walkmen combine the aforementioned group's skewed mod rock minus the major-label polish. Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone points at the band's roots -- New York City's late-'70s/early-'80s CBGB's scene. It is not so much that the Walkmen sound like Television or the Talking Heads or Blondie, but that they, like their NYC peers Interpol, the French Kicks, and Radio 4, evoke the gritty, urban energy so well. "Wake Up," previously released on the band's debut EP, is downright eerie as vocalist Hamilton Leithauser moans over the twisting melody. The title track is an intense spiral of space rock with spare but melodramatic string flourishes. "Revenge Wears No Wristwatch" is so stripped that it is propelled almost entirely by the drumbeat. "The Blizzard of '96," "Stop Talking," and the strangely catchy "We've Been Had" chime like a broken music box with an off-kilter, storybook glimmer. What world do these songs come from? Clearly, it is someplace magical -- a Tim Burton dream, a Wim Wenders skyline, maybe a comic book Gotham or manga artist Paul Pope's futuristic curry-scented, Tokyo-ized New York City. But, wherever it is, you'll be drawn into the parallel universe as soon as you push "play."
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
They're Winning |
2:06 |  |
| 02. | |
Wake Up |
4:13 | |
| 03. | |
Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone |
4:12 | |
| 04. | |
Revenge Wears No Wristwatch |
3:20 | |
| 05. | |
The Blizzard Of '96 |
3:01 | |
| 06. | |
French Vacation |
4:31 | |
| 07. | |
Stop Talking |
4:08 | |
| 08. | |
We've Been Had |
3:29 | |
| 09. | |
Roll Down The Line |
3:12 | |
| 10. | |
That's The Punch Line |
3:13 | |
| 11. | |
It Should Take A While |
6:22 | |
| 12. | |
Rue The Day |
3:36 | |
| 13. | |
I'm Never Bored |
5:28 | |
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Credits
- Walter Martin - Organ // Walter Martin - Tapes // Greg Talenfeld - Producer // Kirsten McCord - String Section // Paul Maroon - Guitar // Paul Maroon - Piano // The Walkmen - Producer // The Walkmen - Producer // The Walkmen - Main Performer // The Walkmen - Main Performer // Meredith Yayanos - String Section // Hamilton Leithauser - Guitar // Hamilton Leithauser - Vocals // Andrew Winslow - Engineer // Karen Waltuch - String Section
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