The Walkmen

Guess that track-for-track remake of Lennon/Nilsson collab Pussy
Cats paid off after all. Studying that Lost Weekend classic
apparently helped the Walkmen perfect their own stripped-down
post-bender-rock. The bare-bones drone that defined previous albums’
least accessible tracks still forms the basis for many of the songs on
their latest release, but the edges have been smoothed with a warm and
fuzzy vintage sound, minimalistic only because there’s no need for a
single extra note. Though a few tracks remain too loose to immediately
engage, the album’s highlights succeed with the same basic materials
— prominent percussion, wheezing organ, and Hamilton Leithauser’s
slurred croon, made brilliant through the most minor embellishments.
Check out the triumphant whistled coda in “On the Water,” for example,
or the restrained horn work augmenting “Red Moon” and “Canadian Girl.”
Garage-y track “Postcards From Tiny Islands,” which rides a surf-rock
drum swell to a sandy-island guitar breakdown, might be the most
elaborate thing here. (Gigantic)