Off & On

You & Me
The Walkmen
Gigantic, 2008
4.5 stars

The Walkmen’s early albums were brilliant. Choc-full of bright guitars, twinkling piano keys and crooning vocals, their echoing sepia tones exuded an old-world charm that hit all the right notes. The years that followed saw the New Yorkers veer ever so slightly off course though, resulting in a couple of albums that, while still good, didn’t quite hit the mark. But You & Me puts these guys right back up there, matching the free-spiritedness of the group’s early Recoys days with the urgency of Bows+Arrows, all the while maintaining the steady, modest swagger of a band that know they’re good and don’t particularly mind if you don’t agree. Well, for what it’s worth, I do – You & Me is a major contender for album of the year.

Artwork: B
Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone had the most amazing photo on it's cover. It was a bunch of '20s-era kids loitering on the street smoking cigarettes, all sepia tones and schoolyard tough-guy attitude. I'll say now, I'm a proud non-smoker - and I think smoking is a stupid, dirty, outdated habit. I mean, if you want an addiction get a Playstation or - fuck - a Blogger account. But, that said, this photo truly made smoking look cool as shit. Anyway, I'm wandering away from the point - the photo on the cover of You & Me has the same old-world feel to it, but it's more sophisticated and less angsty - kind of like the album itself.

Published in mX, Thursday September 11, 2008