In "The Blue Route," it hits home like a 30th birthday—and as the standout "In The New Year" points out, realizing "It's all over anyhow" can be invigorating, a way of readying oneself for the next, far more interesting chapter.
On both record and onstage, the Walkmen have always reached for the rafters-- often at the risk falling on their collective faces or completely overshadowing their moodier material. In the light of their previous powerful singles and go-for-broke performances, the New York band's latest album, You & Me, might seem like a step down. However, it's the first that fully commits to their seductive, eminently soused-sounding late night sulk. If there are people who still
consider the Walkmen a singles act-- granted, that will happen when you write a couple of the best rock singles of the decade-- You & Me might finally convince them otherwise.
The Walkmen truly have created something great here ... and hopefully this album won’t get overlooked. You & Me just might be their best album yet.
You & Me delves deeply into the evocative ballads that have made the band fascinating since Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone.
You & Me is a consolidation of strengths, intensity and pathos with enough '60s echo-chamber reverb to singe synapses.
Too often on You & Me the rest of the group sounds pedestrian, cautiously still and unambitiously sticking to what they know so well.
It’s impossible to fully return all the way home again, but You & Me is the next best thing.
You & Me is a thoroughly Walkmen-esque album, however tautological it may be to say so.
Entering the late 2000s in a bit of a slump, The Walkmen thoroughly bounced back on “You & Me” with flying colors. After releasing a new-millennium New York classic in “Bows & Arrows,” followup “A Hundred Miles Off” was a slight letdown, and a subsequent Nilsson cover album was poorly-received enough to kill most of the band’s remaining hype. So on “You & Me,” The Walkmen returned to the propulsive, synth-infused indie rock that ... read more
1 | Dónde Está La Playa 3:55 | 90 |
2 | Flamingos (For Colbert) 1:10 | |
3 | On the Water 3:09 | 80 |
4 | In the New Year 4:22 | 100 |
5 | Seven Years of Holidays (For Stretch) 3:39 | 100 |
6 | Postcards from Tiny Islands 4:03 | 80 |
7 | Red Moon 4:02 | 100 |
8 | Canadian Girl 4:04 | 90 |
9 | Four Provinces 4:02 | 80 |
10 | Long Time Ahead of Us 3:47 | 80 |
11 | The Blue Route 4:26 | 90 |
12 | New Country 3:44 | 80 |
13 | I Lost You 3:31 | 90 |
14 | If Only It Were True 3:07 | 85 |
#3 | / | A.V. Club |
#6 | / | Treble |
#7 | / | Cokemachineglow |
#18 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#19 | / | Pitchfork |
#22 | / | PopMatters |
#31 | / | Paste |
#64 | / | Consequence of Sound |