I bet a lot of people are jealous of The Walkmen. They cracked some code a few years back and somehow can make the late 70’s sound like the early 60’s with a revisionist approach to recording, and any attempt to pigeonhole them with their better dressed New York contemporaries has proven fruitless. And on top of this they somehow have broken commercially. It’s not too often that a band can sit back and feel relatively little backlash while collecting checks from “The O.C.” If I were them, I wouldn’t want to move a muscle, lest I start losing this perfect balance of fame and musical integrity.

Of course, since I’m not them I’m going to criticize the fuck out of their new record.
Continue reading →

So you’re at home and you’ve just polished off a delicious box of Lucky Charms. After spending a minute to reflect on the satisfaction that those frosted oats and colored marshmallows give you, do you immediately strap on your shoes and rush to your local grocer to pick up the generic version? You know, the one that’s on the lowest shelf and comes in a plastic bag and it’s called Magical Shapes or some bullshit? Wait, you do? Well, then I think I know a band you might like.
Continue reading →