We randomly checked out the Walkmen and Kaiser Chiefs show at the Showbox last night, mostly in the dark about their work. Although we had seen the Walkmen live once before, we couldnt remember if they had made much of an impression. During the opening, a friend summed up their sound as "like the Strokes except not irritating." That's a good enough summary although we'd swap out the Strokes with Rod Stewart, who Walkmen lead singer Hamilton Leithauser sounds exactly like and if you don't agree then fuck you. more ›

Oh Walkmen. Sure, with the release of your latest album, you're not quite the critical darlings you once were, but you certainly don't deserve to play to a venue that's only a third full. When Seattlest got to the Showbox on Friday night, we were shocked (shocked!) at how empty it was: one of the bars was closed, the other bar area was far from packed, and the floor held groups of people scattered about in pockets here and there. Yes, everyone's precious Mountain Goats were playing across town, but surely the Venn diagram isn't that overlapped, right? more ›

Seattlest has loved Brooklyn-based rockers The Walkmen for a while now, but it was their second full-length, 2004's critically acclaimed Bows and Arrows, that really got us good. The album slowly revealed its facets, intense and yearning one moment, subdued and wistful the next---qualities that made it a great post-break-up listen. Since we had nearly worn that CD out over the past two years, it was about time for some new tunes, and the Walkmen deliver with A Hundred Miles Off, in stores yesterday. more ›