The Walkmen

A Hundred Miles Off

Record Collection

Bryan Borzykowski (CHARTattack)

05/30/2006 10:00am

Writing a memorable song is not always a good thing. On The Walkmen's last album, "The Rat" — a powerful, gut-wrenching and brilliant track — almost overshadowed the rest of the disc. That huge song still looms over the band's latest, A Hundred Miles Off, as no one number is quite as strong. However, as a whole, the band's new record is more measured and focused than their previous two releases. This time around, there aren't any dips or highs. It's all grungy, '60s rock. Hamilton Leithauser's vocals still soar, although he's sounding more like Bob Dylan every day (especially on the Basement Tapes-like "Louisiana"). What's best about A Hundred Miles Off is that it's not that different from their previous records. They've just tweaked their sound to give fans a more mature and thoughtful offering.

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