The Walkmen - Lisbon (2010) Fat Possum Records
The Walkmen's last album You & Me was amazing. Lush and subtle. It may very well be their best album. Two years removed from You & Me, The Walkmen return with Lisbon. As surprising as it is, The Walkmen are getting old. If you count their re-telling of Harry Nilsson's Pussycats, this is the band's sixth album. While we have seen them evolve through the years, even through a strange period where the members of the band all switched instruments for an album, they still technically play the same type of music. Jangly rock with stories about the city/living in the city/let's get out of the city lyricism. I don't want to say they are stuck in a rut, because they have proved that they still have the capacity to make great albums, but it certainly seems like they are becoming stagnant.
While Lisbon is a good, maybe even great Walkmen album, it leaves you wondering what could have been.
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Track 1: Juveniles
"Juveniles" is pretty much your typical Walkmen song. The drums really pace this track. The other instruments seem almost subdued. Because of this, the "Juveniles" is centered on the lyrics, which seem to deal with a person trying to be two different people at once. Overall a good opening track
Verdict: 8/10
Track 2: Angela Surf City
Very reminiscent of a more whimsical version of one of their previous songs, "The Rat". We get a lot more energy from "Angela Surf City" than "Juveniles". You can feel that there is almost a calypso influence starting to permeate on Lisbon. The lyrics seem (to me) to deal with the singer liking a girl, and the girl feels at best indifference about him. Not necessarily new territory by any means, but I have to say I really like this song.
Verdict 9/10
Track 3: Follow The Leader
This song is two minutes long. So here is two words for it: Not Necessary
Verdict: 4/10
Track 4: Blue as Your Blood
This one kinds of plods along at the start, but it's a fun plodding. Slight shifts in tone follow until the about two minutes in, when we are treated to a subtle string movement, and then finally a chorus. This song is kind of generic until the strings kick in, but all in all it's very loose, fun song.
Verdict: 7/10
Track 5: Stranded
Now this is the Walkmen I know and love. Horn section right off the bat. The song in both music and lyrics plays like a funeral dirge to a lost or ruined love affair. This is a song that shows some of The Walkmen's talent in both songwriting and music writing. One of the best on the record.
Verdict: 9/10
Track 6: Victory
They follow up a relatively depressing song with a manically upbeat one. The chorus pretty much breaks down to "I have victory on my side". This is kind of a strange decision when the last song's chorus went "If you don't want me, you can tell me. I'm the bigger man here". Just doesn't necessarily flow well.
Verdict: 7/10
Track 7: All My Great Designs
Lisbon is starting to become a chore to review. It's not that this album is bad, in fact, it's quite good. It's just filled with songs I've heard before. There is nothing wrong with "All My Great Designs" it's just an incredibly generic Walkmen song.
Verdict: 6/10
Track 8: Woe Is Me
This is a little better. A much more upbeat song with a actually interesting drum pattern and some variance in the guitar work. "Woe Is Me" actually has some interesting shifts in songwriting as well. Just when I was starting to lose hope, Lisbon pulls me back in.
Verdict: 8/10
Track 9: Torch Song
Nice start with a little chanting and then forms up nicely with a very Beatles-esque sound. Driving drum line and very poppy. Thank you for finishing relatively strong Lisbon.
Verdict 7/10
Track 10: While I Shovel The Snow
Another slow song. I have to say, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser's lyricism comes out in spades when they do these slow songs. His little tales of everyday life on songs like this are what hold the band together during these slow, and honestly boring songs.
Verdict: 7/10
Track 11: Lisbon
Very similar to the last song. Sadly that means it's also pretty boring. It works as a closing song though.
Verdict: 5/10
Cohesiveness Score: 7/10
Like I mentioned in the song reviews, sometimes the placing of songs just seemed weird. For the most part it's not badly put together.
Final Score: 84/120 = 7.0
Closing Thoughts:
While Lisbon is a good album, it suffers from certain problems. Most of these problems lead back to the songs simply sounding like generic Walkmen songs. The biggest problem with Lisbon, and the Walkmen in general is that they are afraid to experiment as much now that they have developed a distinct sound. Hopefully in their future work they will rediscover a love for trying new things.
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