It seemed a couple of years back that a great number of fashionably dressed young New Yorkers had suddenly rediscovered the ‘70s. The Strokes with their trust funds and upscale girlfriends made sounding bored the new cool, while Interpol ogled bands like Television and Joy Division. Somewhere in between, The Walkmen released 2002’s underappreciated little gem by the name of Everyone Who Pretended to Like Us is Gone.
Now, of course, we face a much different world musically. The Strokes photocopied Is This It and called it Room on Fire, whereas Interpol developed a deep-seated fear of the studio and seem to be planning on touring seemingly interminably. The Walkmen managed to avoid both of these pitfalls and have just released their sophomore effort, Bows & Arrows, and are on tour supporting the album.
While Bows & Arrows certainly isn’t a sharp shift from the sound the band developed on Everyone Who, it certainly provides a more pressing, immediate feel. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser maintains his tired, hollow wail but shows a greater versatility and something of a bitter, cynical edge throughout the album. The truly volatile agent on Bows & Arrows is the manic drumming of Matt Barrick.
As Leithauser put it, “the new record is supposed to be more like seeing us in concert. The first record was really a recording project, where we had infinite time to screw around in the studio because we weren’t paying by the hour … This time … it was more focused on the actual performance.” Bows & Arrows reflects the intensity of the approach-nothing on Everyone Who came close to the brilliance and anger of “The Rat” or “Little House of Savages.”
The band arranges the songs together, building off each other’s ideas, and then Leithauser pens the lyrics separately. Leithauser, who cites D.C. reggae punks Bad Brains and Shane McGowan of the Pogues as major influences, tends to use this method quite effectively. While he swears the lyrics are often non-sensical even to him, they capture a desperation, desire, and honesty that seems lacking from the work of many of their peers.
Bows & Arrows kicks off with “The Rat,” which could well become the indie-rock anthem of the year, despite the fact that Leithauser claims to have no idea about the meaning of the lyrics. Barrick’s drumming is fierce and driving, the guitar lines are crisp and hang in the air, the bass line throbs, but Leithauser’s phenomenal delivery really make the song.
You can practically hear the sneer when he belts out “got a nerve to be asking a favor / you’ve got a nerve to be calling my number” and then see the soft, lonely underbelly for the breakdown of “when I used to go out / I knew everyone I saw / now I go out alone / if I go out at all.” As the chorus returns, the bass bursts back in after the first line and one must battle the urge to do the little devil-horn hand signal.
“Little House of Savages” comes close to rivaling “The Rat,” but here it is due to the intricate melodies and great guitar work (not necessarily a staple of the album). “138th Street” lets Leithauser’s vocals shine over simple guitar strumming and a military drum section. The disintegrating-jazz feel of “New Year’s Eve” harkens back to “We’ve Been Had” off Everyone Who, while the title track with its thick organ line and gorgeous chorus serves as more of a new direction for the band. For the most part, the playing on the album is not brilliant (with the exception of Barrick’s drumming), but the songs come together extremely well and avoid sounding stale or uninspired.
Bows & Arrows has a formidable sense of immediacy and the “The Rat” and “Little House of Savages” are clearly the best songs the band has written, even if the album at points lacks the sense of continuity that Everyone Who featured. If Bows & Arrows truly represents the feel of a Walkmen live performance, their show definitely will be worth the price of admission.
The Walkmen will be at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, Feb. 26, with openers Weird War. The 9:30 Club is located at 815 V St. N.W.
