Every now and then, back in the late 80's and early 90's (when I wasn't drinking myself into a stupor at the local metal pub), I occasionally hung out with a bunch of black-clad Robert Smith lookalikes with a somewhat different taste in music. I couldn't help thinking of them upon hearing this, the second album by New York-based band THE WALKMEN. This is basically indie rock that brings to mind a lot of things like MY BLOODY VALENTINE, SUNNY DAY REAL ESTATE, the early works by the likes of U2, RADIOHEAD and THE FLAMING LIPS, and most notably the British indie scene from around that period.

So what you get is a lot of very pretty melodies combined with shimmering noise-guitars. No riffs, just soundscapes. In itself not a bad thing; the only problem I have with the album is singer/guitarist Hamilton Leithauser's vocals. It's not that he has a bad voice, it's just that he doesn't seem to believe in instrumental breaks. In just about every song he starts singing somewhere at the beginning and doesn't stop until the song is almost over. Parts where you can just sit and lean back against the very enjoyable wall of guitars are few and far between. And since Mr. Leithauser has a desperate, pleading style of singing that makes Bono sound like Phil Anselmo, this eventually gets mighty annoying. The exception here being "The Rat", a very nice up tempo rocker. And the gentle piano-ballad "Hang On, Siobhan" shows that he can sing in a different style as well. For the rest I would like to point out to Mr. Leithauser and his fellow WALKMEN that there is strength in moderation. You don't need wall-to-wall vocal carpeting to write a good pop song.

Instrumentally and melodically a very decent album, and in this time of cheesy format rock this kind of dramatic, old-fashioned indie rock does sound weirdly refreshing. But as long as THE WALKMEN aren't able to keep their vocalist on a leash I prefer THE WEDDING PRESENT's "Best Of".

- Van Hoften

OFFICIAL SITE: www.marcata.net/walkmen

RELATED ITEMS: No related articles at this time.