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The Walkmen

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The Walkmen

The Walkmen is an American indie rock band, with members based in New York City and Philadelphia. The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass), and Matt Barrick (drums)—and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar). All but Bauer attended St. Albans in Washington, D.C.

They prefer the sound of vintage musical instruments, particularly the upright piano, and have often recorded at Marcata Recording, a recording studio built in Harlem in 1999 by the three former members of Jonathan Fire*Eater and later relocated to upstate New York.[1]

History

Early Years

Each of the members of The Walkmen grew up in and around the Washington, DC area, played in many of the same bands from early in their careers[2], and even attended the same Washington-area high school[3]. The bandmates eventually moved to Harlem and became a part of the burgeoning New York City rock scene[3].

The band was formed in 2000 following the breakup of two separate bands: Jonathan Fire*Eater, whose members included Martin, Maroon and Barrick, and The Recoys, whose members included Leithauser and Bauer[2]. The three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater, which had recorded for Dreamworks Records, had money left over from that past recording contract and used the remaining funds to construct a rehearsal space in uptown New York[2]. The rehearsal space featured a 24-track recording studio and was dubbed Marcata Studios.

The newly-formed band, who wished to distance themselves from the garage rock sounds of previous bands, released a self-titled EP of songs in 2001 on Startime International, a small Brooklyn-based record label[4]. Shortly after release of the EP, which featured an eccentric blend of upright pianos and other vintage instruments, The Walkmen made their official live debut with a performance at Joe's Pub in the East Village.

Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone

The 2002 debut album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, released by Startime, was well received by critics[5]. The album was noted for its innovative approach to atmosphere and instrumentation, with sparse bass and drums complemented by plinking piano, jangly guitars and Leithauser's unique vocal stylings[5]. Two of the songs on the album, "The Blizzard of '96" and "That's the Punchline," were adaptations of tracks meant for The Recoys' unreleased full-length album.

Critics compared the results of the album to past work by U2 and The Cure as a result of the uniqueness of its sound as compared to other contemporary New York City bands such as The Strokes[5]. One of the album's songs, "We've Been Had," was featured in a commercial for a Saturn Ion automobile[6].

Bows + Arrows

The band's followup album, Bows + Arrows, was released on the Record Collection label in 2004 and was listed by many critics as one of the year's best albums[7]. The album spawned singles for the songs "The Rat" and "Little House of Savages." Critical success of the album led the band to perform on the popular Fox series The O.C.[2]. Bows + Arrows was noted for containing a more immediate and focused sound than its predecessor; both "The Rat" and "Little House of Savages" were seen as stark contrasts to much of the band's past outputs[7].

A Hundred Miles Off and Pussy Cats

Their next album, A Hundred Miles Off, was released in the U.S. on May 23, 2006. The band premiered most of the new songs on a tour of the Northeast in early 2006. The first single to be released was "Louisiana," which featured an upbeat chorus of horns. Peter Bauer and Walter Martin traded musical instruments on the new album, with Bauer handling the organ duties and Martin playing bass[8]. The album found the band refocusing its sound toward folk sounds, unlike their previous two albums; though the change in direction was lauded by some critics[9], other reviews were often mixed[8].

The band was forced to close Marcata Studios that same year after Columbia University purchased the building it resided in[1]. The band released another full-length album, "Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen, a track-by-track cover of Harry Nilsson and John Lennon's 1974 album Pussy Cats, as a farewell to their studio's Harlem location[1].

You & Me

Their most recent studio album, You & Me, became available on July 29, 2008, as an exclusive charitable pre-release on indie music website Amie Street. The Walkmen made the album available for $5 on Amie Street, with all proceeds donated to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center[10]. During its first week of sales, the album charted at #29 on Billboard's Top Digital Albums[11][12]. The album was made available on physical formats on August 19, 2008. The album was recorded at the newly-relocated Marcata Studios in upstate New York[1].

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

  • The Walkmen (June 26, 2001)
  • Untitled (Black cover, with eight songs) (April 3, 2002)
  • Untitled (White cover, with eight songs) (April 3, 2002)
  • Split (with Calla) (September 17, 2002)
  • Christmas Party (2004)
  • Daytrotter Session, March 2008 (Leonard Cohen covers)[13]
  • Daytrotter Session, August 2008 (Neil Hagerty covers)[14]

Singles

  • Let's Live Together (2002)
  • The Rat (April 19, 2004)
  • Little House of Savages (April 17, 2004)
  • Louisiana (September 11, 2006)
  • The Blue Route (2008)
  • In The New Year (2009)

Other Recordings

References

  1. ^ a b c d Marcata Recording
  2. ^ a b c d "The Walkmen Biography on Yahoo! Music". Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  3. ^ a b "BBC Collective - The Walkmen Interview". Retrieved 2009-02-17.
  4. ^ "Allmusic Biography-The Walkmen". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  5. ^ a b c Dahlen, Chris (April 8, 2002). [The 2002 debut album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, released by the independent record label Startime, was well received by critics. "Pitchfork Media Review: Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone"]. Retrieved 2009-02-18. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  6. ^ Yu, Stephanie. "N.Y.'s Walkmen rock in D.C. this Thursday". The Johns-Hopkins Newsletter. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  7. ^ a b Carr, Eric. "Pitchfork Media: Bows + Arrows Review". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  8. ^ a b LeMay, Matt. "Pitchfork Media: A Hundred Miles Off Review". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  9. ^ Hiatt, Brian. "Rolling Stone Review: A Hundred Miles Off". Retrieved 2009-02-18.
  10. ^ PrefixMag.com: Walkmen release You & Me for $5...
  11. ^ "Get The Walkmen Album Early, Help Charity On Amie Street". TechCrunch. 2008-07-28. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  12. ^ "Top Digital Albums". Billboard. 2008-08-06. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
  13. ^ The Walkmen | Daytrotter | The Creature Of Man And His Endless Figuring Over Cursive Lines
  14. ^ Moeller, Sean. "Pipe Dreams Are Still Dreams To The Blind Modernists". Retrieved 2009-02-17.


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