Appreciating The Walkmen

It's hard to believe that The Walkmen have been around since the turn of the Millennium. I guess when phrased that way, it sounds a heckuva lot longer than twelve years. But twelve years is still TWELVE YEARS. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for an indie rock band of modest success to stay together that long. Sure, The Walkmen have gained enough widespread acclaim to achieve Lollapalooza status, but this is a band with five members, a number of whom are fathers. Even at this lofty stage in their career, The Walkmen surely cannot be a lucrative means of making a living.

Paired with my astonishment over the band's longevity is an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. For a band to remain together for over a decade, and to steadily continue to record and release a string of reliably accomplished and tuneful albums, well that is something that one should never be so careless as to take for granted. So I celebrate the band with each painstakingly crafted album they deem worthy of sharing with the world. Finally, it appears that The Walkmen are comfortable enough in their own evolution to reflect on their achievements, and to celebrate along with those that appreciate them so much.



With Heaven, their sixth full-length, the band truly sounds mature; fully settled in to their identity as NYC indie rock's elder statesmen (Sonic Youth is like The NYC Stones now, so they don't count). Tastefully attired, reserved and undemonstrative onstage, they are consummate professionals. Speaking of the band's carefully appointed sense of style, I have seen The Walkmen perform in person a number of times, and they have always adhered strictly to their semi-formal, vintage urban professional look, even while playing directly into a blazing sun on a 90+ degree Chicago summer afternoon. Hamilton Leithauser will be damned if he takes off his tweed blazer!

So dedicated are they in their commitment to their profession that they've commanded respect by steadfastly remaining themselves all these years. Whether you like them or not, they're still going to tuck in their shirts, lace up their oxfords and make music day after day. Heaven is an appropriate album for The Walkmen of 2012. They've quietly achieved a fine balance between the joys of family life and the rigors of touring the world for months on end. The band has never sounded so unabashedly joyous. I have a dreadful suspicion that this would be an all-too-appropriate swan song. Whether it is, or whether it's just another stellar entry to the middle of their musical history, it's time once again to rejoice in The Walkmen. Here's to another twelve years...