The Walkmen – Lisbon
Record Label: Fat Possum Records
Release Date: September 14, 2010
If you’re about to sit down with a Walkmen record, you definitely don’t want to listen to me yapping about some daily life occurrence (DLO) that kinda/sorta relates. Hamilton Leithauser does such a stellar job laying his life out, that any of my metaphorical attempts would reek of even more teenage triteness than normal. So don’t mind me; I’m just here to talk about them. I’m faceless like in Face Off. Or utilitarian like Will Smith’s robotic arm in I Am Robot. Those were good similes.
Lisbon, The Walkmen’s 6 billionth record, is another jangly rock affair that might be their most universal, not because the down-and-out-isms have changed much, but because there’s a stinking recession out there! Now we all know what it’s like to sit on a beach after our girlfriend Lexus went bye bye. (When I open my bank account online, it actually makes the sound that happened when someone landed on a Whammy. But this isn’t about me, dammit!) But seriously, Lisbon, as expected, is a serious record. Leithauser is still figuring things out. On the depressing dive bar anthem “While I Shovel The Snow,” we hear, “Half of my life I’ve been watching / Half of my life I’ve been waking up.” And although those two things are crucial to the human growth process, Leithauser makes it clear that those are, at least to him, stagnant activities. Because waking up doesn’t imply going anywhere. But there’s also rockers like the Vampire Weekend-esque “Angela Surf City” and the We Were Promised Jetpacks-sounding “Blue As Your Blood," in which we hear stories of love that’s both lost and being lost. Growing up may be hard, but for Leithauser it’s easy to write about.
But what draws me most to Lisbon is the exciting reinventions on the band’s own formula. A Walkmen song is still a Walkmen song, with its carefully placed fuzz and bursts of guitar-heavy squalls. However now there is a song like “Stranded” that features old-world trumpet serenades or a lo-fi punk number like “Follow The Leader.” Both retain the essence of The Walkmen, yet after 6 billion records there is still an air of discovery. As I traipse through Lisbon, I hear lots of other current bands. And contrary to what you might expect, it’s wonderful. The Walkmen's sound was around before many of the bands popping up in my mind, but this confluence of ideas has created fertile ground. And The Walkmen have taken the sounds of others and applied them in ways that only stupid nerds with expensive headphones would mention to their other nerd friends. So there’s never a feeling that the Walkmen are grasping at indie fads. Instead it’s like there is some underground guitar-driven society where all the best rockers talk about lost love, libertarianism and expensive Whisky. So when you BUY Lisbon, let yourself bask in another Walkmen album, but also spend some time thinking about how nice it is to hear spurts of creativity smooshed into a sound as old as my judgmental view of rock n’ roll.
Recommended If You Like: Titus Andronicus, Bruce Springsteen, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Cold War Kids, Interpol
For the coming fall/winter season this album is perfect. I love the brass on this record, overall easily one of my favorite records of the year. Kind of agree that there isn't much growth but when an album is this good who needs growth and the common change of sound that goes with it. Love the band and yes I did find them through the O.C.
"But there’s also rockers like the Vampire Weekend-esque “Angela Surf City” and the We Were Promised Jetpacks-influenced “Blue As Your Blood,"
You do realize that the Walkmen are huge influences on both of these bands, not the other way around.
Either way pretty good review but I think it deserves way more than a 76%.
yeah that wording was a bit misleading, which is what i tried to state in the last paragraph. Basically that they started this sound and now there are lots doing versions of it, but also that the Walkmen aren't afraid to use new styles that their disciples are creating.
I'm in the super minority here, but I really didn't enjoy the album. It felt pretty repetitious to me and a bit static in the way it moves from beginning to end. This unfortunately won't be getting many spins from me.
I don't normally care about the ratings, and can usually guess what they will be after reading the review.
But when I finished reading this one I could have sworn it would be a 90. You really didn't have much negative to say, so what are the album's faults?
I don't normally care about the ratings, and can usually guess what they will be after reading the review.
But when I finished reading this one I could have sworn it would be a 90. You really didn't have much negative to say, so what are the album's faults?
i grade a little harder than most. anything above a 7, especially when it's out of 10, can be considered above average/good to me.
Browse Reviews
Write a Review
Alphabetized Listing
Popular Reviews
Best New Music
View Artist Profile
View News Articles
Stream the Music
Buy the Album or MP3s
View Profile Picture
View Blog
View Signature
Posts: 3,939
Follow This Review
More Reviews By This Author