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Before O.C. guest spots, a Saturn commercial, and "The Rat"'s U2-styled angst made it ubiquitous, three members of The Walkmen were in Jonathan Fire*Eater. That NYC-via-D.C. mid-'90s crew was positioned by Dreamworks to be the next big thing, but it never happened.
Debuting as The Walkmen in 2002, the new band gracefully transcended that sweaty, swaggering post-hardcore hype. Now, more changes: The quintet recorded its first two albums at its 24-track Harlem studio, Marcata, but closed the space after Columbia University's purchase of the building promised headaches. Returning to D.C. for album three, they ended up at Inner Ear Studio with Don Zientara, local legendary producer for seminal D.C. bands Fugazi, Rites of Spring, Minor Threat and others.
Does the change in scenery and new, ragged knob turner find The Walkmen rocking into the Jonathan Fire*Eater era? Well, no, the trek resulted in a dozen barroom sing-a-longs.
On A Hundred Miles Off, vocalist Hamilton Leithauser sounds a lot like Bob Dylan (and, uh, Rod Stewart). Also channeling Springsteen and a bit of "Brown Eyed Girl," the album opens with its best track, "Louisiana," a horn-laced Kerouacian number that finds Leithauser conjuring a Desire yowl, down to a cup of coffee before hitting the highway.
The new vocal approach is okay in spurts, but he doesn't have much variation in the delivery (well, "Lost In Boston" and "Brandy Alexander" are reminiscent of the Strokes), so things blur. Drummer Matt Barrick throws down arresting textures—admire those hand drums on "Emma, Get Me A Lemon"—but unexpected percussion parts aren't nearly enough. In fact, the best all-around track outside the opener is "Another One Goes By," a downbeat cover of a song by the Walkmen's Philadelphia chums, Mazarin.
Maybe the ho-hum approach is the result of growing pains, separation anxiety, or a transition into an even newer sound? It's hard to say, but if my singer hijacked an icon's delivery and one of my album's only distinctive tunes was a cover, that's how I'd spin it.
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