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Formed in 2001, Washington’s The Walkmen consist of two, now defunct, bands, The Recoys and most notably Jonathan Fire*Eater. Led by Hamilton Leithauser, they currently reside in New York - and it shows. One can imagine the five piece desperately trying to be seen at the ‘right’ parties standing next to one of The Strokes so that they can bask in their reflected glamour and success.
Indeed, it’s difficult to avoid the Strokes references which run right through ‘Bows And Arrows’ like a stick of - garage - rock (I remember telling DiS founder Sean Adams that The Walkmen sounded nothing like them. It looks like I was wrong!). Choice examples include the rambling ‘My Old Man’, the woozy ‘New Year’s Eve’, while on ‘Hang On Siobhan’, Leithauser goes for the full Julian Casablancas, not even attempting to stamp any of his own authority on an incredibly ropey track. As for the closing title track, as Leithauser strains and struggles over what could have been a wonderful lament, the listener will be reaching for the ‘stop’ button quicker than you can say ‘Gordon Raphael’.
‘Bows And Arrows’ isn’t a bad album, merely average, struggling to match the level of excitement generated by the brilliant single ‘The Rat’. In fact that track, ‘Little House Of Savages’, ‘North Pole’, and ‘Thinking Of A Dream I Had’ would make a pretty decent EP but four tracks do not a great album make, and this is by no means a great album. Disappointing.
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The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
hmmm do not agree.
i also don't really understand how you can berate the Strokesness of it and then single out The Rat (the album's most obviously Strokes-like song)as being the best track.
and personally i find Hamilton's vocal delivery much more empasioned than Casablancas'.
i also don't really understand how you can berate the Strokesness of it and then single out The Rat (the album's most obviously Strokes-like song)as being the best track.
and personally i find Hamilton's vocal delivery much more empasioned than Casablancas'.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
More empassioned than Casablancas? Is the reverse even possible?!!
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I saw them get compared to Sonic Youth in The Independent. But then again, The Independent compares every other band to either SY or ....Trail Of Dead, which gets my hopes up before I discover that actually it's just more wanky garage rock. So The Walkmen would seem to be a case in point. Yawn......
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Sorry, but I really don't hear the Strokes similarities. Maybe I've listened to the album more than once, though.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I've had this album over a week and listened to it many times and I stand by my comment that several of the tracks sound too much like the strokes.
as i said, it's not a bad album per se merely average. i still say 'the rat' is by far and away the best track which sounds nothing like the strokes but more like the las or echo & the bunnymen and is all the better for it. i'd go so far as to say 'the rat' is one of my fave singles of the year but the album could and should have been a lot, lot better.
as i said, it's not a bad album per se merely average. i still say 'the rat' is by far and away the best track which sounds nothing like the strokes but more like the las or echo & the bunnymen and is all the better for it. i'd go so far as to say 'the rat' is one of my fave singles of the year but the album could and should have been a lot, lot better.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
... because of course the strokes invented garage rock and the members of the walkmen weren't already kicking out the jams when julian casablancas was still dribbling caviar down his I love NY bib.
and incidentally, which bunnymen and las records are you listening to?
the rat is what the strokes think they sound like.
and incidentally, which bunnymen and las records are you listening to?
the rat is what the strokes think they sound like.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
this really doesnt sound like the strokes.
but it is crap, ill give you that.
but it is crap, ill give you that.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
"the rat is what the strokes think they sound like"
heh!
indeed....
the Strokes if they actually had any balls, or fire, or drive/emotion that reaches beyond a tres cool perma-weary/stoned drawl; if they were even slightly what their press tells them they are.....twas all what I first thought hearing "The Rat", and it rings truer every time I hear it..
If it sounded like the bleedin La's too, my radio would be hurled out the window every time it fucking came on.....
Weren't JF*E from New York in the first place too..? So not quite as though they've all upped sticks there to all be cool and hang onto the Strokes' coat-tails etc..
I keep hearing different things about the whole lp tho, i'll have to wait & see what the other half of it's like.. Refuse to believe even at its worst it's a patch on the awfulness (& derivitivity...sp..) of the Killers tho! ;)
heh!
indeed....
the Strokes if they actually had any balls, or fire, or drive/emotion that reaches beyond a tres cool perma-weary/stoned drawl; if they were even slightly what their press tells them they are.....twas all what I first thought hearing "The Rat", and it rings truer every time I hear it..
If it sounded like the bleedin La's too, my radio would be hurled out the window every time it fucking came on.....
Weren't JF*E from New York in the first place too..? So not quite as though they've all upped sticks there to all be cool and hang onto the Strokes' coat-tails etc..
I keep hearing different things about the whole lp tho, i'll have to wait & see what the other half of it's like.. Refuse to believe even at its worst it's a patch on the awfulness (& derivitivity...sp..) of the Killers tho! ;)
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I think Bows and Arrows is the best album of the year so far.
I accept that apart from about 3 tracks it doesnt really have catchy tunes, but i don't think that's the point. For me it's as much about the feel of the record. It's an album; not a pop compilation of The Rat and Little House of Savages on repeat. If you expect that, you will be disappointed, and should by the killers record (incidentally i quite like them too). But that's not to say the singles arent reasonably representative.
I can see the strokes comparison, and when i first saw them live that's exactly what i thought. But they're at least as good as the strokes.
But The Rat, one of the less strokesy songs, is the best thing they've done; apart from We've Been Had.
I accept that apart from about 3 tracks it doesnt really have catchy tunes, but i don't think that's the point. For me it's as much about the feel of the record. It's an album; not a pop compilation of The Rat and Little House of Savages on repeat. If you expect that, you will be disappointed, and should by the killers record (incidentally i quite like them too). But that's not to say the singles arent reasonably representative.
I can see the strokes comparison, and when i first saw them live that's exactly what i thought. But they're at least as good as the strokes.
But The Rat, one of the less strokesy songs, is the best thing they've done; apart from We've Been Had.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
What a stupid review. You just need to stop talking like that. "Hang on Siobhan" sounds about as much like Casablancas as my cat (who actually sounds a tiny bit like him). I actually don't care for that song at all. But you are just wrong. This whole Strokey review is just painful to read. This publication should fire that journalist for incompetance.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I think it's a grower. I was initially disappointed, but give it time.
What worries me most is that on some songs, the vocalist tends to sound like Rod Stewart.
What worries me most is that on some songs, the vocalist tends to sound like Rod Stewart.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
That's incompetence. i-n-c-o-m-p-e-t-e-n-c-e. If you're going to insult my intelligence at least have the good grace not to abuse the English language and LEARN TO FUCKING SPELL OK? Honestly...
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Good call. Imagine getting stuck in a lift with Rod Stewart, Hamilton Leithauser, Kelly Jones & Liam Gallagher all grunting and straining away nineteen to the dozen. You'd go fucking mad. You probably couldn't get them all in such a small space anyway because their egos would demand a lift each. Cunts.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
"I think Bows and Arrows is the best album of the year so far."
I don't fucking think so. Have you heard the Hope Of The States album? Well, have you? God give me strength...
I don't fucking think so. Have you heard the Hope Of The States album? Well, have you? God give me strength...
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
he made one fucking spelling mistake in an otherwise fine post, jesus CHRIST you're a little bit of a wanker aren't you? spelling stopped being important to me when i was 11 and went to the big school. i don't care if someone writes about music backwards and i need a mirror to read it, because i can't think of anything less indie than shooting down someone's opinion based solely on ONE SPELLING MISTAKE
i don't mind your reviews but oh man, you're a wanker
i don't mind your reviews but oh man, you're a wanker
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
best thread ever!!
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Rod Stewart? The Las? The Strokes? What are you all? Deaf?
Try Bob Dylan.
'Bows And Arrows' is the most idiosyncratic, charismatic album to be released this year. If nothing else, when you play a Walkman track, it's identifiable as a Walkmen track and in the current climate of posturing, plagiarising, retro-garage no-marks, that's laudable.
Hope of The States? Next to that self-obsessed prick from Razorlight, the frontman has the most limited vocal range in alternative music.
Furthermore, anyone who thinks Hamilton Leithauser sounds like Julian Casablancas should be stacking shelves in Sainsburys, not writing music reviews.
Try Bob Dylan.
'Bows And Arrows' is the most idiosyncratic, charismatic album to be released this year. If nothing else, when you play a Walkman track, it's identifiable as a Walkmen track and in the current climate of posturing, plagiarising, retro-garage no-marks, that's laudable.
Hope of The States? Next to that self-obsessed prick from Razorlight, the frontman has the most limited vocal range in alternative music.
Furthermore, anyone who thinks Hamilton Leithauser sounds like Julian Casablancas should be stacking shelves in Sainsburys, not writing music reviews.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
some people have no sense of humour...
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
LOL! I still say he sounds like Julian Castanets
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Come come now.
You're not going to bite harder than that?
You're not going to bite harder than that?
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
No. I haven't.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
true
theres that one song that sounds COMPLETELY dylan.
walkmen are far superior to the strokes, cos theyre not afraid to experiment and muck around with their instrumentation.
and the rat sounds fuck all like any la's i've heard
and theyve got a track on there that sounds like joy division playing sigur ros
and
and
and
this review is pretty much wrong
although i agree that its not too great an album
theres that one song that sounds COMPLETELY dylan.
walkmen are far superior to the strokes, cos theyre not afraid to experiment and muck around with their instrumentation.
and the rat sounds fuck all like any la's i've heard
and theyve got a track on there that sounds like joy division playing sigur ros
and
and
and
this review is pretty much wrong
although i agree that its not too great an album
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Good God, man!
Not a great album?
Are you LISTENING to it? Is the volume turned UP? Have you put the CD in the TOASTER?
What is this madness?!
Tell me what a great album is, and I will tell you why you are wrong in nine different ways, and maybe ten.
Not a great album?
Are you LISTENING to it? Is the volume turned UP? Have you put the CD in the TOASTER?
What is this madness?!
Tell me what a great album is, and I will tell you why you are wrong in nine different ways, and maybe ten.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
indeed i have and it is truely awesome!
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Who is this loser fucker that writes reviews about the Strokes when he's supposed to be talking about new records? The Walkmen absolutely stomp on all this nonsense. This guy is definately an INCOMPETANT ANT.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Indeed, Sir, indeed.
And don't let anyone correct your spelling either. This is a music site (though you wouldn't think it, noting some of the bands mentioned) not a forum for critique of the written word.
The Walkmen stomp on most bands during the rounds.
Take these mere mortals away! I they have nothing to offer the likes of you and I, Boatman. We have higher standards.
And don't let anyone correct your spelling either. This is a music site (though you wouldn't think it, noting some of the bands mentioned) not a forum for critique of the written word.
The Walkmen stomp on most bands during the rounds.
Take these mere mortals away! I they have nothing to offer the likes of you and I, Boatman. We have higher standards.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
but....
its still crap!
its still crap!
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
[sigh]
You, Sir, are an ass.
You, Sir, are an ass.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
"‘Bows And Arrows’ isn’t a bad album, merely average, struggling to match the level of excitement generated by the brilliant single ‘The Rat’."
How many albums do you know that do? 'The Rat' is by far the most exciting damn song I've heard this year. A whole album that exciting would take the piss.
How many albums do you know that do? 'The Rat' is by far the most exciting damn song I've heard this year. A whole album that exciting would take the piss.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
there's sooooo many singles which are brilliant but the album they're on fails to live up to the excitement. i'm not going to start listing them. we could be all day! let's face it if you're going to put our your best song as the single i don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the album should match it. in my - humble - opinion it doesn't but to placate all you walkmen fans i'm going to give it another whirl this weekend but if it still doesn't give me a hard on than it's going in the dumper - either that or i'll post it to one lucky reader. I'll even sign it. :)
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I bought the album after hearing the rat.
first listen: disapointed
second: intruiged by some of the melody
third: not an amazing album but not particulary bad.
first listen: disapointed
second: intruiged by some of the melody
third: not an amazing album but not particulary bad.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
the review was alright.
quite witty in places.
the strokes reference is tenuous and over egged but its alright.
the rat is current fave single of the year so far anyway.
quite witty in places.
the strokes reference is tenuous and over egged but its alright.
the rat is current fave single of the year so far anyway.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
This is just a bad review.
The Walkman have nothing in common with the Strokes.
Nothing.
The Walkman have nothing in common with the Strokes.
Nothing.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
"If nothing else, when you play a Walkman track, it's identifiable as a Walkmen track"
You got to the right point, sir.
You got to the right point, sir.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Yes they have - they're from New Yoik. But they are better, no doubt about it.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
They're not from New York. Three of them are from Washington DC (formerly of Jonathan Fire Eater), who moved to New York. Only the front man - Hamilton Leithauser - was in NYC, and I don't think he was born there.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Leithauser clearly sounds more like a Dylan/Bono hybrid (or mongrel?) than Casablancas. You can hardly call the music garage rock. The atmospherics alone transcend this classification. I suggest Anthony Gibbons finds some more appropriate reference points when writing his reviews, or better still assess the music purely on its own merits.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
i haven't heard the record. i'd like to. the rat DOES have faint strokes similarities - faint, but tangible. i prefer it to the strokes by miles though. if the strokes had a clue what they were doing, and stopped preening themselves for one minute to actually put a bit of welly into what they do, they might have a shot at sounding like this. that's not very likely though. i hate the strokes, because having heard this single, their own inadequacy has become even more startlingly obvious than it already was. [that's A Lot.]
i want to hear this album, anyway.
x
gen
i want to hear this album, anyway.
x
gen
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
fuck off.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
dude's being constructive.
you really havent come at this review from the right angle.
he's suggesting them.
you really havent come at this review from the right angle.
he's suggesting them.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
hahahaha!
diddums.. has it come to this now?
diddums.. has it come to this now?
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
This reviewer has it all wrong. I don't see how you can compare The Strokes to The Walkmen. They sound nothing alike. Mr. Gibbons is obviously just another lazy music critic.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I dunno. I can hear it a little bit on 'The Rat'.
Rest of the album is not very similar though.
Rest of the album is not very similar though.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Surely the Walkmen sound most of all like Loveless era My Bloody Valentine, only with more prominent drums & singing.
The drumming is *amazing* mind.
The drumming is *amazing* mind.
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
I think the Walkmen's Album is much better than this. There's so many great tracks on here and they're all catchy.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
i think i've come to the conlcusion that as well as writing a number of bad reviews, you are just plain rude when people offer their opinions on them.
and i agree with the bloke that said 'review things on their merits' and stop getting so fucking hung up on what sounds like what and who you don't like.
and i agree with the bloke that said 'review things on their merits' and stop getting so fucking hung up on what sounds like what and who you don't like.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
A good point, but reviewing things purely on their own merits is surely impossible given the vast number of generic reference points there are for us in popular music in this day and age.
The Strokes are a fucking lame reference point for The Walkmen, though.
The Strokes are a fucking lame reference point for The Walkmen, though.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Oh piss off Chris. I knew you'd try and do me down in some way.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
you talking to me?
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
No, to me. I don't see how that's doing him down, though. Any hints? Nice Tele as well, alcxxk. Mine's almost identical.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
OK. It was a reasonably intelligent response. I apologise. Sorry to the other chap for any confusion over the name.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
haha - its a dodgy knockoff that i had to borrow off a friend cos i wrecked my even dodgier strat first song in a set
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
this guy who writes reviews and comments on them is a fag. fuck him and his stupid shit and anyone who reads this including myself sucks.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
What's wrong with The Strokes anyway???
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
they are boring (after a few listens) and were needlessly overhyped?
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Just because a band is overhyped, doesn't mean they have nothing to offer.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
that is true, but its just an anti-climax if a band are overhyped.
rather than if you discovered the music yourself. for example hearing a song on a radio/film/tv/club liking it, then looking on internet hearing more and liking the band more, then buying album.
rather than if you discovered the music yourself. for example hearing a song on a radio/film/tv/club liking it, then looking on internet hearing more and liking the band more, then buying album.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
That's how I got into the Strokes.
On the other hand I got into a lesser known band "Ox" because I read about them on DIS and liked the sound of them. Does that mean they are "over-hyped"?
On the other hand I got into a lesser known band "Ox" because I read about them on DIS and liked the sound of them. Does that mean they are "over-hyped"?
The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
The Walkmen? Throw The Arcade Fire, The Strokes, The Velvet Underground, U2, The Earlies, Dylan, The Cribs, Four Volts, My Bloody Valentine and maybe even Television together, and you'll end up with something like 'Bows and Arrows'. I don't know how you can't see the chiming chords of the Strokes in there, it's obvious.
Re: The Walkmen - Bows And Arrows
Err, that's far too many reference points, how can you get an answer from all that?
It's far more spacious than the tinny stuff The Strokes do.
It's far more spacious than the tinny stuff The Strokes do.
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