The Walkmen

The Walkmen's debut stumbles into a room, its seeming haphazardness giving way to a studied precision. With huge, ragged guitars dropping fragments behind stripped-down, massive drums, the group comes off sounding like U2 circa War but with none of the rhetoric.

What a brilliant summation of the state of alternative rock. With one snappy title (take that,
Fiona Apple) the Walkmen, founded by three former members of the now extinct Jonathan
Fire*Eater, kiss goodbye the media attention, next-big-thing status and free food that went
with being in a Nineties alterna-band. With their new incarnation, they're now ready to go
back to making rough-edged, weird-as-they-wanna be music, regardless of whe... More >

Just what we always wanted--Jonathan Fire*Eater grows up. Put some DreamWorks money into a studio, that was mature. Realized Radiohead was the greatest band in the world, brainy. Stopped playing so fast, hoo boy. And most important, switched vocalists from Nick Cave imitator to Rufus Wainwright imitator. Wainwright makes up better melodies with a dick in his mouth, and not only that, Cave has more literary ability. New York scene or (hint hint) no New York scene, DreamWorks isn't buying. (Grade - C+)