Bows and Arrows

The Walkmen

Directed by: Jay Chandrasekhar

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Bows and Arrows

The Walkmen

Directed by: Jay Chandrasekhar

Recommended if you like: the New York City sound of Lou Reed and David Byrne

On 1972’s Transformer, Lou Reed sang, “Did you see what she did to him, did you hear what they said?/Just a New York conversation rattling in my head.” Five years later, on the Talking Heads’ debut album, David Byrne sang, “You start a conversation you can’t even finish it/You’re talking a lot, but you’re not saying anything.”

With 30 years having passed, the same social nuance of Reed and Byrne’s New York City seems to be alive and well in a city now bursting at the seams with youthful talent. Many of the most talented are using their newfound spotlight to poeticize petty social masks and to shake off fakey hipsters who, frankly, aren’t “saying anything.”

The Walkmen’s 2002 debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, was much devoted to such subject matter. On “We’ve Been Had,” the album’s standout track, Hamilton Leithauser sings, “I’m a modern guy/I don’t care much for the go-go/Or the retro image I see so often/Telling me to keep trying.” Backed by wavering organ flights, grounding guitar clangs and effortlessly beautiful melodies, Everyone was the only album to come out of New York that year to fully realize that being cool didn’t matter. Of course, this made The Walkmen the coolest band in New York.

With Bows and Arrows, the group continues to embrace the dirty reverb and cynical lyricism of their debut, but this time, their sound is decidedly tighter. The quiet, delicate songs stand in sharp contrast with surprisingly fevered rock-outs, as Leithauser’s folksy, slurring vocals contrast with his surprisingly enraged yelps.

The album’s opener, “What’s In It For Me,” plays as somewhat of a sleepy warm-up — a grimy organ line is sustained while the rest of the band rubs sleep from their eyes and takes their positions. Soon, Leithauser’s croon joins the organ, drums thump into rhythm, and the guitars provide subtle wallpaper.

“The Rat” follows with an uncharacteristic fury, sounding like a mix between U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” and Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart.” Leithauser’s voice is especially raspy and enraged when he sings, “You’ve got a nerve to be asking a favor.” He sounds especially disgruntled when the song’s storm settles and he sings, “When I used to go out/I knew everyone I saw/Now I go out alone/If I go out at all.”

Throughout the rest of Bows, The Walkmen continue to dabble in upbeat, forceful songwriting. Songs like “Little House of Savages” and “Thinking of a Dream I Had” offer steady marching beats and clamorous and repetitive guitar chords.

But the group’s quieter moments may still be their most compelling. When working together to add subtle, otherworldly atmospheres to otherwise simple folk and soft rock songs, the Walkmen come into their own. Sleepers like “Hang On, Siobhan,” and “138th St,” are a testament to the group’s capacity for soft-spoken beauty.

Unlike its predecessor, Bows dwells far less on social cynicism, preferring instead to take on ideas of emotional warfare and urban solitude. It’s as solid a sophomore record as there has ever been, and it foreshadows a prolific future for the Walkmen.