The Walkmen

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The Walkmen, as seen in the music video for The Rat.
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The Walkmen, as seen in the music video for The Rat.

The Walkmen are an indie rock band from New York City. The band formed with three members from Jonathan Fire Eater (which had recently disbanded) and two members from The Recoys in 2000. The group is comprised of Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar), Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ), Peter Bauer (bass) and Matt Barrick (drums). Four of the five band members attended St. Albans high school in Washington D.C. . They prefer the unique sound of vintage musical instruments, most famously the clangy upright piano, and their self-designed recording studio Marcata Recording, which uses analog recording equipment.

The 2002 debut album Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone was well received by critics for its experimental approach and progressive sound. The track "We've Been Had" from Everyone Who Pretended... was used on a television commercial for the Saturn Ion. The follow up album Bows & Arrows, was released in 2004 and was listed by many critics as one of the year's best albums while embracing a less whimsical, experimental sound than the previous album. Several songs were featured on the Fox television program The O.C., including "What's in It for Me?", "The Rat" and "Little House of Savages".

Bows & Arrows was released on the Record Collection label from Warner Bros, in contrast to the independent label Startime that released Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone.

Their next album, A Hundred Miles Off, was released in the US on May 23rd 2006 to less glowing reviews than their previous albums. 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." Peter Bauer and Walter Martin have traded instruments on the new album with Bauer handling the organ duties and Martin playing bass.

2006 also saw the release of another full-length offering by the Walkmen: a track-by-track cover of Harry Nilsson and John Lennon's drug-fueled Pussy Cats album from 1974. Also, the Walkmen are working on a book entitled John's Journey.

Contents

[edit] Discography

[edit] LPs

[edit] Other releases

  • Untitled (with four songs) (2001)
  • Untitled (with eight songs) (2001)
  • Radio (aka Wake Up), track for This Is Next Year: A Brooklyn-Based Compilation (2001)
  • Untitled (with eight songs) (2002)
  • Let's Live Together (2002)
  • Split (with Calla) (2002)
  • The Rat (single) (2004)
  • Little House of Savages (single) (2004)
  • Christmas Party (2004)
  • "There Goes My Baby" on the Stubbs the Zombie soundtrack (2005)
  • Louisiana (single) (2006)

[edit] External links

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