Monday 11 August 2008



Lending a helping hand (or ten)


I never got into The Walkmen the way some others did, so my expectations of You & Me, the band’s fifth album, were non-existent to say the least. Saying I was pleasantly surprised, though, would be a bit of an understatement; You & Me is a solid, solid album that, for some reason, reminds me of The National’s Boxer–I think it’s that in both cases, I didn’t expect to be impressed, but completely was.

In preparing for this post, I discovered that The Walkmen partly rose out of the ashes of Jonathan Fire*Eater, a band whom I had a passing fancy for back in the day. I can still hear remnants of the Fire*Eater indie aesthetic in The Walkmen, but they have definitely developed into a strong collective in their own right. The “vintage sound” quality has become more trademark than gimmick now. I always felt that Jonathan Fire*Eater were a bit ahead of their time, and it seems that the world has finally caught up.

You & Me has a street date of August 19th, but a digital version became available a few week’s back, with all proceeds from sales going to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in honor of Luca Vasallo. The Walkmen chose Sloan-Kettering because their friend Luca, who is seven-months-old, is battling AML leukemia. All donations will go to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Research Centers and The Joy Fund, which helps provide patients with different activities, entertainment and support. The album is available for the donation price of $5 at AmieStreet.com. Go ahead and do your good deed for the day, and pick up a darn good albums at the same time.

The Walkmen “In The New Year”

.: The Walkmen :.
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by J. Di Gioia | Comments Off

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