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HOT OFF THE PRESS (#4)
It's Wednesday, time for another issue HOT OFF THE PRESS. This is the fourth installment of a weekly first glance at music discovered in the last seven days, whether it be just-released, just-leaked, or some long-lost gem that has remained under the radar.
Click here for last week’s column, which exposes the under-recognized Au and post-rock up-and-comers Pyramids, or click here for issue two, which discusses White Denim and the lauded-then-crucified Black Kids. Lastly, tap this little link for the first installment, which regards the new Beck, Fiery Furnaces, and Ponytail.
The Walkmen – You & Me
To be released August 19, 2008 on Gigantic.
I won’t lie and say I was just buzzing with excitement over the release of the new Walkmen album. After all, they’ve had a solid little career, with some pleasant peaks and even a good deal of critical acclaim for their 2004 release Bows + Arrows. And they’re taking a generous step towards general angelhood with the pre-release method for their new album, You & Me, which they are offering for a mere five dollars online, with 100% of proceeds going to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. But despite this undeniably excellent and heartfelt deed—not to mention the steady reputation the band has established—it’s always seemed like something’s holding back the New York quintet musically, and, unfortunately, You & Me isn’t about to dispel those notions.
Distinctly-voiced lead singer Hamilton Leithauser has always been the most immediately recognizable piece of the band, and as he goes, so go The Walkmen. As usual, this album features a handful of moments where he is a driving strength, and a handful of moments where his pipes are a distraction, or, worse, a grating annoyance. The backing band, as usual, is pretty tight and on cue, and this album sees them expanding their oft-old-timey sound a bit, but, as usual, they rarely make the listener reflect with amazement on the awesomeness of their instrumental achievements. So, yeah.
Altogether, You & Me is a disc that signifies the continued validity of The Walkmen as a safe bet to bring some modicum of satisfaction, while not too abrasively challenging the intellect. But, so as to not be a buzzkill on their act of kindness, we’ll play it safe and say You & Me is easily worth five dollars. Ten, though, may be a stretch.
Grizzly Bear – "Two Weeks"
New song premiered on David Letterman on July 23rd
Usually, HOT OFF THE PRESS focuses on albums that have recently been discovered, but for this we’ll make an exception. Grizzly Bear have been building a mountain of anticipation over their as-yet-untitled third album, and the development of their buzz is evident in the prestige of their latenight appearances:
• last year, they appeared on Last Call with Carson Daly
• this March, they played the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
• in April, they graduated to Late Night with Conan O’Brien
• and just this past week, they entered the big, adult world of Letterman
And the progress is deserved, as Grizzly Bear’s 2006 album Yellow House keeps rewarding, and the couple new songs that have trickled out are possibly even better and are sure to raise already-lofty expectations to a nearly-unattainable degree. “Two Weeks,” a sparkling if simple track, is cloaked in reverb and is guaranteed to sound better on the fifth listen than it did on the first. Check it out.
By blog contributor Nick Courtright.