It’s been two years since 2004’s landmark Bows and Arrows album, which I remember being a surprisingly great little underrated album supplying a perfect combination of mood and art rock. When I got my hands on a copy of the new album, A Hundred Miles Off, again, I was pleasantly surprised. Keeping the mood and the art rock, they have come a little farther as a unit, tightening the nuts and bolts of their sound, cleverly adding great melodies and have made their songs a little more intricate creating a pretty solid album’s worth of music.
The album takes its fair share of twists and turns like on “Louisiana,” which has the addition of a trumpet, making all the difference as it creates a south-of-the-border sound. Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar) sounds better than ever, taking his whiskey drenched voice to new levels and in to deeper ranges. Keeping the atmospheric wall of guitar, sonic delivery, and vintage sound, the songs show more depth. “All Hands and the Cook” is a good example of the sound the band has created, delivering a guitar driven experimental rhythm followed by organ and bass that builds to a crescendo and fades. The song ain’t bad either! The farthest they experiment is on “This Job is Killing Me,” taking a stab at hard driving punk, though it isn’t that far from their past musical experiences in other previous bands.
A stronger offering than it’s preceding album, The Walkmen have grown a little, defining it’s own sound and sticking to what it knows best, which is writing good songs that take you places many other bands can’t. Fan or not, this one is definitely worth picking up. |