They Got Juice
The Stills/The Walkmen, Birmingham Carling Academy 2, Tuesday April 27th 2004.
In this week's NME tonight's two bands are credited with having emerged to fill the gap while Interpol are AWOL pursuing international criminals (or at least recording the follow-up to 2002's Turn On The Bright Lights). So are they merely makeshifts or can they stay the pace? And if so, will The Walkmen prove to have more legs than The Stills? Dead Kenny investigates.
The Walkmen have emerged from the embers of Jonathon*Fireater into the unforgettable fire of Joshua Treason that is their breakthrough second record, the skip-resistant Bows And Arrows. As they walk onto the stage it is clear that they're so anti-fashion they wear cardigans over check shirts, but there's an undeniable presence to lead singer Hamilton Leithauser, who cuts an imposing enough figure that you wouldn't take the piss out of that name to his face.
Aside from a certain seriousness and intensity, The Walkmen have in truth little in common with Interpol, weighing in with urgent slabs of earnest, gruff rock nearer in tone to U2 or Fugazi, Leithauser's epic growl mellowed only by Walter Martin's organ sounds which are as warm and fuzzy as a child's blanket. They send brilliant single 'The Rat' scurrying out early doors in the confidence that the remainder of the set is strong enough to close the deal, and this is well-placed: on record, 'Bows And Arrows' is a stealthy grower, but the live impact of Leithauser prowling the stage, investing his optimum vocal strength like a prairie dog howling for his life, notches the frisson level up to genuine excitement. Their debut album is set to be re-released in June, by which time they should be headline material judged on this performance. The Walkmen, then: it's sony rock'n'roll but I like it, like it.
A hard act for The Stills to follow, but their backdrop footage of falling feathers reminds us that there's little to worry about when you've released the best (albeit not the most fashionable) record of the year to date in Logic Will Break Your Heart, an album which, two months on, sounds more and more like a greatest hits collection with each play. The band share with Interpol the magpie ability to assimilate riffs and hooks from, all over the place into songs which have a logic and feel of their own. Yet in lieu of Interpol's edgy preciousness, The Stills offer accessibility, levity and compulsive hummability: sounding at times (such as 'Still In Love Song') like Robert Smith ruminating over New Order rhythms. A good thing? You have to ask?!
People poke fun at The Stills for trying to raise political issues in their interviews, but at least they've got the awareness and balls to do so, which is more than you can say about most of the younger bands these days. And if they're melancholy mopers to Interpol's drama queens, at least their songs convey the sense that optimism may yet emerge from behind the attitude: the reactionary rock of latest single 'Changes Are No Good' followed later by the show's finale, where (as on the album) Dave the drummer takes on the vocals to cheerily sing 'nothing lasts forever/hope this lasts forever' on 'Yesterday Never Tomorrow'. With tunes as good as this, there's no shortage of pop fizz in The Stills, although rumours they've already inspired a Liverpool-based tribute band called The Crosbys are so far sadly unsubstantiated...
The Stills/The Walkmen, Birmingham Carling Academy 2, Tuesday April 27th 2004.
In this week's NME tonight's two bands are credited with having emerged to fill the gap while Interpol are AWOL pursuing international criminals (or at least recording the follow-up to 2002's Turn On The Bright Lights). So are they merely makeshifts or can they stay the pace? And if so, will The Walkmen prove to have more legs than The Stills? Dead Kenny investigates.
The Walkmen have emerged from the embers of Jonathon*Fireater into the unforgettable fire of Joshua Treason that is their breakthrough second record, the skip-resistant Bows And Arrows. As they walk onto the stage it is clear that they're so anti-fashion they wear cardigans over check shirts, but there's an undeniable presence to lead singer Hamilton Leithauser, who cuts an imposing enough figure that you wouldn't take the piss out of that name to his face.
Aside from a certain seriousness and intensity, The Walkmen have in truth little in common with Interpol, weighing in with urgent slabs of earnest, gruff rock nearer in tone to U2 or Fugazi, Leithauser's epic growl mellowed only by Walter Martin's organ sounds which are as warm and fuzzy as a child's blanket. They send brilliant single 'The Rat' scurrying out early doors in the confidence that the remainder of the set is strong enough to close the deal, and this is well-placed: on record, 'Bows And Arrows' is a stealthy grower, but the live impact of Leithauser prowling the stage, investing his optimum vocal strength like a prairie dog howling for his life, notches the frisson level up to genuine excitement. Their debut album is set to be re-released in June, by which time they should be headline material judged on this performance. The Walkmen, then: it's sony rock'n'roll but I like it, like it.
A hard act for The Stills to follow, but their backdrop footage of falling feathers reminds us that there's little to worry about when you've released the best (albeit not the most fashionable) record of the year to date in Logic Will Break Your Heart, an album which, two months on, sounds more and more like a greatest hits collection with each play. The band share with Interpol the magpie ability to assimilate riffs and hooks from, all over the place into songs which have a logic and feel of their own. Yet in lieu of Interpol's edgy preciousness, The Stills offer accessibility, levity and compulsive hummability: sounding at times (such as 'Still In Love Song') like Robert Smith ruminating over New Order rhythms. A good thing? You have to ask?!
People poke fun at The Stills for trying to raise political issues in their interviews, but at least they've got the awareness and balls to do so, which is more than you can say about most of the younger bands these days. And if they're melancholy mopers to Interpol's drama queens, at least their songs convey the sense that optimism may yet emerge from behind the attitude: the reactionary rock of latest single 'Changes Are No Good' followed later by the show's finale, where (as on the album) Dave the drummer takes on the vocals to cheerily sing 'nothing lasts forever/hope this lasts forever' on 'Yesterday Never Tomorrow'. With tunes as good as this, there's no shortage of pop fizz in The Stills, although rumours they've already inspired a Liverpool-based tribute band called The Crosbys are so far sadly unsubstantiated...
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