The Walkmen - Lisbon

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/Walkmen.jpg

http://www.marcata.net/walkmen/news.html

7/14/10
Greetings everyone. We're pleased to announce that our record Lisbon will be coming out in the U.K. on October 11th on Bella Union Records. It will be out in the U.S. on September 14th on Fat Possum Records...

We are playing a whole lot of concerts coming up in the remaining summer, and all through the fall, and more are always being added, so check back here for a lazily-updated version of our schedule, or for a more reliable list of things, check out the myspace or facebook pages.

Ok we hope to see you around!

The Walkmen

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naz-q2ZLEeo

Woah weird, I'm literally stranded in Lisbon right now, listening to this song for the first time. Not starry-eyed tho.

so i'm not in love with their new single (Stranded), i think the Walkmen need to get hyper again. i never got around to hearing their last album so i'm holding out hope for this newer one.

btw, that is a great story okamax.

You should get around to hearing their last album because it is their best album.

I like this new track a lot. I like this relaxed style better than "The Rat," personally.

^same here - really dig this

i really need to get around to hearing their last two albums. the first one is probably my favorite rock album of the 00s.

new song sounds pretty ehhhhh... i agree w/Bee OK that they need to get more hyper. i mean, we need that drummer to kick some ass.

I like this new track a lot. I like this relaxed style better than "The Rat," personally.

i wasn't saying that i wanted them to redo "the Rat", though i can see why you read it that way. my favorite album by them is their debut, which is mellow, but had that youthful nervous energy. i would like some of that back as that is missing from that new song.

i will have to listen to You and Me.

xxxxp I got home today by the way. Passport issues. Weirdly spent half a day in the American Embassy with Vampire Weekend's keyboard tech who had lost his passport and was really worried he was going to lose his job because of it.

I kind of like the new song as a jaunty horn song, but it's not really much of a single, imo.

That new single is very dull. I really liked the last album, hope there's more exciting things on the new one.

Good to see some love for the first album in this thread it's by far my favourite album of theirs and one of the best debuts of the last ten years. It's a shame Bows & Arrows seems to be the most popular, I found it really patchy.

Glad you made it home okamax! And I hope the dudes in Vampire Weekend are chill bros and don't fire that poor guy.

The first Walkmen album is my favorite too. Bows + Arrows had a few higher highs, but some lower lows too.

so this has leaked, thoughts in a bit.

I picked up their first full-length album on the day it was released (and have since grown bored of it) and still very much like their 2nd & 3rd releases. The last one didn't really catch me with my first few cursory listens and I have very little interest in checking this one out. Is that weird?

I absolutely love "You & Me" but so far this isn't hitting the same highs. The quality of the leak seems a bit suspect though so i'll wait and see.

Yeah, this is a step backward from You & Me (which itself was really the only good-to-great album they've made since the debut).

So what's the new album like for those who have listened to it? Mellow, not mellow? Are they still doing the horns and all of that?

It's very much in the same vein as You & Me. Really mellow. Think "Stranded" is the only track with horns though.

I'm liking this on first listen through. I like all of their albums, though, for some reason. I'll have to see if the lyrics stick with me like they usually do after a few listens. This is probably a step down from "You and Me," as most have stated.

this is also out today in the U.S. still haven't listened to it, might buy it on the whim.

i'm seeing them this week at the music box in hollywood. i listened to a stream of the new record and it sounds good -- the last one didn't do much for me even though it was pretty highly acclaimed. i will buy lisbon on cd and give it some time to grow on me. the songs they did at the nypl (posted on gothamist) are great!

i think the walkmen have had a much more interesting career than some people expected them to. i remember the beginning of the decade when critics wrote them off as a bandwagon-jumping haircut group with the de rigeur joy division bass lines of the time. i'm glad they took some risks and developed a unique sound, even if that meant alienating a few hipsters.

jeez, this footage on the "i lost you" video! from a tornado in topeka kansas in 1966, apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKRKppEJbLs

"i lost you" is my favorite song of theirs!

i see this got "Best New Music" and a 8.6 rating on Pitchfork this week.

Yeah it helped move copies at my store I'm sure haha.

saw the walkmen at shepherd's bush last night. they were pretty good. I was amazed how the singer belts out at the top of his voice so much. his vocal chords must have taken a battering. how does he do it? I was kinda morbidly curious to see whether his voice would falter or not. it didn't.

Just posted this on another board but I don't want it missed:

The Walkmen and School of Seven Bells (and some others) are playing at Hoboken's Pier A just next to the PATH station this Saturday for free! H-mag, a local art/community magazine are putting on the show but I don't know how heavily they've been promoting it. I had to tell ohmyrockness.com about it since they didn't have it listed.

Apparently it requires RSVP:

http://www.h-mag.com/musicfest/

Look for me at the Tunes booth (wherever we happen to be set up, not totally sure yet) within the festival. Tunes is Hoboken's music store.

There isn't any talk on the new one in any of the multiple Walmen threads that came up, but I didn't want to start a whole new thread. Anyway, I really like the new one. I think its a good look for them.

I think Heaven is one of the best songs they've ever done.

I think the new album is their best album. It has possessed me in a way none of their others have (and I say that as a big fan of their others, too).

this thread has me curious. i loved the first 2 a lot and for some reason haven't paid a bit of attn since (maybe i heard some of third one and wsn't bowled over? i really can't remember now)

Yeah, same.

i have mixed feelings about the last few albums, but their live shows are better than ever -- they've really tightened up. hamilton can sing his ass off now.

I saw them 2x around 2004 but not since then. Will check out.

I think the new album is their best album. It has possessed me in a way none of their others have (and I say that as a big fan of their others, too).

I can't say that this replaces either of the first two for me quite yet but, yeah, this has really grabbed me in an unexpected way and is definitely the best album they've released in awhile now. And I was also a fan of Lisbon, but this blows it away.

ughhh need to whine for a sec: i'm a student at the college of william & mary. the walkmen were booked for a concert here last spring, and i was pretty excited, but whoever was in charge of the sound fucked up, because hamilton's vocals were way too quiet. like half as loud as they should have been. i did get to say hi to the singer though. he is very tall.

john darnielle opened though, and he was a lot of fun.

Damn, their first album is by far my favorite rock album of the 00s but I kind of tuned out after Bows and Arrows for whatever reason. They've been fucking unbelievable every time I've seen them live, even when the sound was bad.

I really liked the new one after a couple of listens but it didn't have much staying power. Still think You & Me is their best by a considerable distance.

Their new 7" (Dance withYour Partner b/w Vermeer '65) is really great. I still haven't heard Heaven, but these two tracks are beautiful.

New EP from Hamilton & Paul: http://open.spotify.com/album/6dTi4TJm9Ud7uwWO4nJ5yA

It is basically the Walkmen - moreso than Hamilton's hit-and-miss solo album last year was.

Still think everyone who slept on the Walkmen's later albums missed out. Heaven>>You & Me>>>Lisbon>>>>Bows+Arrows>>100 Miles Off>>Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone

I'd agree with that order if you put Everyone Who Pretended first. That's still my favourite by quite a long way. Heaven was really underrated.