Music Review: The Walkmen- You & Me - Page 3

Especially as they continue on and the earlier chaos of You & Me becomes far more controlled, serving up more radio-friendly tracks with “Four Provinces,” which offers a chance for the other bandmates to stand out with great instrumental inventiveness, until, unfortunately Leithauser interrupts with the obsolete shout of “am I getting through?” Getting his own turn to shine again, he lets the accompaniment fade into the background with the weak “Long Time Ahead of Us,” before they prove why the vocals and instruments best work together in unison with the stronger Springsteen reminiscent “New Country.”

Although, it's the three of the four final tracks that really hooked me with the old fashioned and refreshingly fun “I Lost You,” that sounds like a throwback to the days of classic rock, the faster-paced but sing-along friendly tune “The Blue Route,” which makes surprisingly great use of what sounds like woodblocks and the final title “If Only It Were True,” which manages to persuade us into starting the disc over again.

I just wish that after a two year process and given the admirable and selfless decision to donate proceeds from the "me’s" to the less fortunate "you’s," The Walkmen would have trimmed some of the fat off a mostly successful record to make it a bit tastier and easy to digest. Still, for more than just fans of the band, it’s definitely worth a listen, yet forgive me if I skip past the vocal warm up shouts since everything’s always better “In The New Year.”

Article Author: Jen Johans

Jen is a life-long film buff frequently dubbed a "Walking Movie Encyclopedia.” While earning a degree in Film Studies, she joined AFI and IFP. A three-time national award-winning writer, Jen also runs her site Film Intuition as well as its Review …

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