With Bows and Arrows setting the bar high—and birthing “The Rat”—The Walkmen can be forgiven for sliding a little on this, their third outing. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make the half-baked ideas here any more enjoyable. Switching up the roster (organist Walter Martin traded places with bassist Peter Bauer) has made for a shift in the band’s sonic qualities, with overdriven guitar at the forefront and walls of noise all around. Vocalist Hamilton Leithauser apes Highway 61-era Dylan, making for a sameness of sound that doesn’t do the abrasive edges of the songs here any favors. Caribbean-flavored opener “Louisiana” has a sun-kissed charm, and “Emma Get Me a Lemon” almost makes it as an anthem, but too often the record suffers under the weight of its own sloppiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment