The Walkmen, Dum Dum Girls at Terminal 5, New York, NY, October 18th, 2012

The Whole Package

One of the things that's often missing from a mindie rock show is theatricality.  Many times, I think there's either a conscious decision just to get up there and play or a genuine shyness by some of the performers that prevents them from doing anything but reproducing their songs live.  There isn't anything wrong with that.  In a way, it's part of the whole indie aesthetic; and, honestly, if I were a performer that's probably what I would do.

Sometimes, though, a band is the whole package of image and sound.  I got to see two bands last night that wrap their songs in the carefully cultivated images that they bring to their live shows.

There were actually three acts on the bill at last night's Terminal 5 show, and I don't want to leave Daughter out of the discussion.  The London-based trio definitely falls into the just play the music category.  Lead singer and guitarist / bassist Elena Tonra is shy and self-deprecating on stage, but she has a beautiful voice that swirls around her own as well as Igor Haefeli's (sometimes bowed) guitar.  Their songs included lots of slow builds and interesting noise.

Dum Dum Girls took the stage at around 8:45.  Each member was dressed in black.  Lead guitarist Jules and frontwoman / rhythm guitarist Dee Dee twisted in unison on many of the songs, their bangs bouncing back and forth with them.  Speaking of Dee Dee Penny, she is one of the most mesmerizing frontpeople in music.  Each movement appears carefully calculated:  the way she tilts her head, the way she strums a chord.  This, contrasted with the rest of the band's relative stoicism, gives the whole performance the theatrical feel I mentioned before.

And then there are the songs.  The reverb-y garage pop of songs like "Bhang, Bhang, I'm a Burnout" or "Bedroom Eyes" and selections from the band's excellent End of Daze EP like "Lord Knows" and "Season in Hell" sounded and looked great.  Unfortunately, since they were opening, their set ended too soon for me.

I've mentioned before that acts at Terminal 5 are prompt, and The Walkmen came out at just about the stroke of 10.  Lead singer Hamilton Leithauser was dressed in his usual dark suit and tie.  Leithauser is, himself, a distinctive frontperson.  At points in many of the songs, he rears back and lets loose with his high-pitched yell at a level that makes you wonder how he can do it night after night.  He points at the crowd to underline particular lines in the songs.  The band relies on vintage guitars, organ, and upright piano for their sound.  That sound is a jangling, kind of neo-surf coupled with Leithauser's distinctive vocal style.

During their ninety minute set, the band ran through all of the songs that have become mindie classics like "In the New Year," "Angela Surf City," "The Rat," and "We've Been Had" as well as some of the standout cuts from this year's Heaven like "Heaven," "Heartbreaker," and "We Can't Be Beat."  A full horn section joined the band for several songs including "Stranded" from 2010's Lisbon.  With the horns blaring, the drums pounding, the piano tinkling, the guitar jangling, and Leithauser giving it everything he had, you could imagine this music being played in the 40's or 50's; while, at the same time, you realized that the people of that time would have fallen over if they ever heard anything like it.

In all, it was a really great bill that contrasted the simple substance of an up and coming indie band like Daughter with the style of Dum Dum Girls and The Walkmen.  Both of those more established bands brim with the substance necessary to pull off their stylistic choices.

Music geek bonus:  I was able to snag one of the final two free 7" singles that The Walkmen gave out to 100 attendees, and I finally bought the clear-vinyl "Loser Edition" of End of Daze.

The Walkmen, Heaven, 2012

Sunday Run Album Review

Dad rock.  It’s a phrase I’ve been reading a lot lately.  I’ve come across it in connection with Wilco and The National.  Just last week, I think, I saw an interview in which The Walkmen answered a question along the lines of, “How does it feel to be a band that plays what many consider to be dad rock?”  They were ok with it.  I am, too, but I’m not sure I’m supposed to be.  The phrase is usually, I think, meant as a criticism or a snark.  Those are bands I really love, so who cares what it does to my street cred?

It started me thinking about what dad rock is, though.  I think when you see it written by a music journalist, they’re usually referring to a sound that draws pretty heavily on guitar-based classic rock.  I’m not sure if it’s a pre-requisite, but most dad rock bands also seem to be composed of men over thirty.  The Walkmen fit both of these, but I noticed something else about them as I listened to Heaven on my run yesterday that makes them, maybe, the only true dad rock band out there.

I mentioned to CoolMom the other day that I’ve had this weird kind of feeling for the last few months now.  It’s hard to describe.  Being settled into a routine with work and kids, though, gives this feeling of moving forward without ever really going anywhere.  Waiting for something to happen.  Anticipation that something’s eventually got to give.  Tension.  And tension is the best word I can think of to describe The Walkmen’s sound on Heaven.

The jangly, reverby guitars are a familiar sound in rock music.  I always describe the sound and the feeling of it as what you’d hear in the score of a Quentin Tarantino film.  And the vocal technique I usually associate with that sound is something like Urge Overkill’s version of “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” or Edwyn Collins’s “A Girl Like You.”  The Walkmen’s lead vocalist, Hamilton Leithauser, has a quality, an urgency, to his voice that, when paired with the music, just builds the tension.  You get that same feeling of waiting, straining for something just to resolve itself, and The Walkmen just leave you there.  It’s pretty cool.

Lead single “Heaven” may be the best example of this on the album.  The guitars just keep jangling along while Leithauser belts the lyrics.  The combination actually makes me crane my neck and tilt my head a little like a guitar player feeling for that string bend.  The album contains example after example of this:  “Heartbreaker,” “The Love You Love,” “Nightingales.”  More subdued songs like album-opener “We Can’t Be Beat,” “Song for Leigh,” “Jerry Jr.’s Tune,” and “Line by Line” still get you to the same place of longing, just with a slower build.

The themes on Heaven are pretty grown up, too:  mostly loyalty and sticking it out through long-term relationships.  But it's the sound that pushes things along and provides the emotional weight.

The Walkmen have been on a roll.  Their last two albums, You and Me and Lisbon, were fantastic, each producing classic tracks like “In the New Year” and “Angela Surf City.”  Heaven continues their evolution, and the title track is another masterpiece.

Over the last few years, I’ve felt emotional connections to the music of several bands of twenty-something kids.  With Heaven, though, a group of guys nearer to my own age have created something that I think really captures the essence of being a cooldad.  Don’t be ashamed of liking dad rock.  It’s something the kids just won’t understand for a few more years.

The Walkmen

New Single: "Heaven"

Pitchfork posted a live performance of the title track from the upcoming Walkmen album, Heaven, as part of  the Pitchfork.tv "+1" series.  The band's been on a great run lately.  Their last two albums, You and Me and Lisbon, were fantastic.  This isn't a huge departure from either of those, which is a good thing.  As usual, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser gives it his all.  Performance starts at around 3:50.