BG's Top Ten Albums of 2004 - Number Nine

The Walkmen – Bow + Arrows

Let’s get one thing straight: "The Rat" is the best song of the year (not my favorite, but the best). The Walkmen managed to fill this one song with more energy and intensity than some bands can put into an entire album. Because of this, it’s no wonder that a lot of people overlook just how good the rest of Bows + Arrows really is. These guys have put together one of the strongest, most confident indie rock records of the year. The jangly guitar work and carnival-like organs give many of the songs a grandiose feel, yet the band still sounds amazingly tight, if anything they’ve gotten tighter since they debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. But The Walkmen bring more to the table than just a mastery of their craft; something that is sorely lacking from the music world in general and the indie scene in particular: passion. This is easy to spot on tracks like "The Rat" and the almost-as-good "Little House of Savages", but even on the less forceful songs, like "The North Pole" or "New Year’s Eve", lead singer Hamilton Leithauser gives it everything he’s got without taking away from the rest of the band. Bows + Arrows doesn’t call a lot of attention to itself. It probably won’t stay in your CD player for months on end. But every time you do decide to give it a spin, you’ll be rewarded with a great album and probably ask yourself why you don’t listen to it more often.