On their latest LP, indie rock veterans get lost in the details.
As coy and ironic as the modern indie landscape may be, The Walkmen have always aimed for the gut of both their fan base and their steady, shifting musical output. Unlike other vintage-obsessed (and aruguably, lesser) bands like Dr. Dog and The Black Keys, The Walkmen are at their best when they immerse themselves in unremittingly sharp details, as they do on the eponymous closer to their latest work, "Lisbon", which builds a finely conveyed, slow arrangement around the oddly brilliant line “She looks outside/doubles over laughing.” During their fifth original studio album (they recorded a cover of Harry Nilsson and John Lennon’s Pussy Cats in 2006, as well) the band treats their instrumentation with a level of detail that previously only manifested itself lyrically. “Blue As Your Blood,” a tuneful slow burner that has been floating around their live shows for the past year, stretches comfortably across a piercing, exact snare drum sound that cuts singer/guitarist Hamilton Leithauser’s wistful lyrics to a persistent grid. On “Stranded” the band achieves a similar effect through gaudy, earnest horns that recall the consuming nostalgia of 2008’s You and Me, though they lack the layered tension that lay at the heart of that album as well as much of their older catalog. But this lack of layering certainly isn’t a fault. If anything, it sets Lisbon apart as a distinctly mature work. The band finds texture in each note instead of rendering it through broad, distorted movements that rumble persistently through overwrought atmospheres and comfortable American haze. Though the effect is ultimately the same, Lisbon’s merits are in the journey, in the understated beauty of each subtle effect and each labored, carefully produced note.
THE WALKMEN
Lisbon Sounds Like: Sun Studios with a sneer
99-Cent Download: “All My Great Designs”
Good For: When you want indie rock — without the overwhelming irony. 4 Stars
