More mature Walkmen hit 10-year mark with ‘Heaven’
Earlier this year, indie-rock darlings The Walkmen looked back at 2002’s “Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone” with a 10th anniversary tour.
Given the age of most rock bands, it’s not an unusual milestone, but it was meaningful to the band.
“It was a little legitimizing because you start thinking you accomplished something,” says singer Hamilton Leithauser. “It’s still a struggle for us. We don’t make a lot of money, and we still have to travel in our van, but it does make you feel like you got somewhere.”
The New York post-punk revival band’s breakthrough was the second album, “Bows + Arrows,” which drew strong reviews from tastemakers new and old, who found the sound harkening back to U2, The Cure and Joy Division. Rolling Stone called the band’s standout, “The Rat,” “one of the greatest songs of the century” (it was 2004), and Pitchfork had it as the No. 6 single of the year.
Over the course of three more proper studio albums and one covers release, The Walkmen have continued to draw acclaim and expand musically, while building a club following, touring with Kings of Leon and playing such festivals as Lollapalooza and All Tomorrow’s Parties.
In May, the band released “Heaven,” of which All Music Guide wrote, “where their rockers used to rage, they now burst with exuberance.” In some circles, it has been labeled the band’s “dad-rock” for the inclusion of not only the fatherly “Song for Leigh,” but also the band photo featuring its six adorable offspring.
“It’s just that we included pictures of us and our kids on it,” Mr. Leithauser says, “and that I think directed people into thinking and looking at it that way, but that was just a last-minute addition.