Album Review: The Walkmen's Lisbon

The Walkmen bring several musical flavors on their sixth studio album, “Lisbon”. It is a lesson in carefully labored over nostalgia. Each track seems to have an air of longing towards either a person or place. It also sounds very West Coast in nature, quite unlike the New York scene the band is a part of.

The clean gurgling guitars are the most noticeable arrangements within the music, as they chug along and create the vision for Hamilton Leithauser’s nasally vocals. The guitars do have an air of surf rock in some of the better songs like “Woe Is Me”, which combines the upbeat catchy music with not so happy feeling lyrics.

This seems to be a theme in a lot of the songs, which were mostly inspired from a trip to Lisbon, Portugal. A lot of lonely, beautiful nights seem to be the gist of what the trip was like, based on the end result of these songs. Opener “Juveniles” kicks things off with fuzzy bass and the twanging guitars. It’s a great mid-tempo track.

There are a few harder rockers here as well. “Angela Surf City” is probably the most direct attempt at a rocker, while “Woe Is Me” and “Victory” are also faster tempo tracks.

The tension and release effects of “Blue As Your Blood” are really great, and the interesting horn arrangements in “Stranded” make it one of the more original sounding tracks compared to the rest. Mundane tasks like shoveling the snow become soul-searching events in “While I Shovel The Snow. We’ve all had moments such as this, and it is very relatable. Closer “Lisbon” ends things nicely with a slow lazy pace with a few crescendos.

The vintage production really fits well with the nostalgic feel of this record. I think that while it’s not a perfect record by any means, most of the songs flow very well, and each one is strong in it’s own way. The clean guitar, piano, and nasally vocals make for a complete sound, this record can be appreciated by fans of classic and contemporary rock alike.  

8/10 

Album Review: Interpol's Self-Titled

            Interpol’s eponymous fourth album makes it clear from its album cover that a theme of falling apart will certainly be a part of the music. It has been a tough time for the band, as bassist and key member Carlos Denger left the band following the recording of this album. It seems the music and the artwork show this rift quite obviously.            

Interpol has always been a dark band, and they do not stray far from their style. Most critics compare them to Joy Division, but I feel just as Muse got the “Radiohead monkey” off of their back with each subsequent album, Interpol sounds less like Joy Division then when they started out. The layers of guitar are still present on this album, and there are very few riff-oriented songs. Dengler’s bass riffs seem a little lost in the mix, which may be a reason for his departure, among others.

            Some of the upbeat songs are when Interpol is at their best. “Success” starts the album off with a punch and the next few tracks are very strong. “Lights” was released for free earlier during the year and raised some eyebrows among fans. I personally love it, and it was one of the first Interpol songs I heard. I credit it with getting me into the band in the first place. It’s a slow builder that climaxes with the ending lyrics repeated for around a minute.

            First single “Barricade” is also very different compared to the rest of the album, it’s easily the poppiest song, but it’s very enjoyable. The ending is also very beautiful and a little unexpected because of the music before it.

            One of the main strengths of this album are Paul Banks’ vocals. They are a lot less monotonous then in previous albums. His range is a lot more impressive, especially in some of the background vocals that are mixed in with the lead. At times these background vocals sounded like Damon Albarn to me. The more frequent use of piano is also a good change for the band. “Try It On” is one of my favorites on the album because of the addicting little piano riff mixed with the great drumming.

            One of the negatives however is that the last few songs on the album really drag it down, and sound very grey. In general the songs on this album do blend together a little too much as well. There are not as many different little things to pick up on like on “Turn On The Bright Lights”, but it is still a pretty good album in my book. Fans of the “TOTBL” will probably enjoy this album, just not as much. Either way, it seems as if Interpol has come full circle in the past eight years, and it will be interesting to see if they can change again to remain relevant.

7/10

Album Review: Deerhunter's Cryptograms

I thought that after hearing Deerhunter’s 2008 album, Microcastle, they were a very strong band that brought something unique to the indie rock table. I regarded them very highly and picked Microcastle as my favorite album of 2008. After listening to 2007’s Cryptograms, I feel like they are on the shortlist for one of the better bands in indie rock.

Cryptograms is certainly a darker record than Microcastle, with various cloudy guitar riffs and ambient shoegazing sounds. It seems at times that there are a few filler tracks, but after a couple listens the beauty of all the songs can be discovered. 

The album has two distinct halves. The first is the creepier, less pop oriented side. The title track kicks things off with a blast of guitar that may confuse you after hearing what follows it. Tracks like “White Ink” sound like a night at the beach watching the ocean roll in, and “Providence” like exploring an old haunted house with various plants and vines growing up the dilapidated walls. These instrumental songs could turn off listeners who must have vocals to enjoy the music, but I find them to be quite peaceful and would probably be good for those who indulge themselves in hallucinogens.

The second half of the record lightens up and brings in poppier, normalized song structures. Vocalist Bradford Cox has a very light and smooth voice that floats along as another instrument throughout the latter half. Most of the later songs call upon nostalgic feelings that give them a certain warmth.  “Spring Hall Convert” sounds as warm as the sun itself, while “Hazel St.” reminds us of adolescence and the old times running around the neighborhoods. “Strange Lights” and closer “Heatherwood” have some of the most audible vocals, and both sound great. Bradford did not hide his voice in other songs for a lack of vocal skill.

            In it’s overall context I find Cryptograms to be pretty amazing. It is a very different record from their newer music but yet has the same effect on me. This seems like a record that is meant to be heard on vinyl, as it is broken up into its two distinct halves. Even though these halves are very different they make sense together and create an aural experience like nothing I’ve heard.

9/10

Welcome To My New Experiment!

Hello all, you may know me as Dan The Zman from my youtube channel. After moderate success in the world of youtube and a few suggestions from close friends, I have decided to start up a general blog to host my written reviews for those that would rather read than watch. I can see this as a need, as some people enjoy reading quickly over watching a 6+ minute video. So every time I review an album on youtube, a corresponding written review will be posted at the same time. I hope you all enjoy this new feature in my world of music reviewing and keep reading and watching!

Dan