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The Walkmen

A Hundred Miles Off

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by coldfinger on 07/26/2006

My last trip to the record store left me with a fist-fulla albums with one or two remarkable songs on each, and then a bunch of filler to push the record to LP length. The Walkmen’s A Hundred Miles Off was one of these albums.

I did not much like their debut album, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone, when I purchased that one back in 2001. It was not terrible, just did not leave enough of a mark to keep me thinking about them. In fact, I completely forgot about them and their second album, Bows and Arrows, hit and left the stands without my even noticing.

However, hearing the opening track, "Louisiana", on this third full-length effort of theirs, made me think I might have judged to quickly. I knew if this first track was any indication of the overall feel of the album, it could be golden. The song gets likened to Basement tapes-era Bob Dylan, and for good reason. It is a real gemstone, and a remarkable achievement for the Walkmen.

The rest of the album, however, is completely lackluster. It has a few ups on "Another One Goes By" and "Brandy Alexander", but most of the songs feel like the vocals are fighting the melodies and the music. And even when the two do jive, they are pretty boring. The song “Lost in Boston” takes the near-rhyming game to a new level by pairing "Boston" with "chocolate" and then with "exhausting". I like a near-rhyme as much as the next guy, but these actually hurt a little bit.

Recommendation: This album has a few pretty good songs, and 1 really great song. Download the first song and cherish it. If you are super curious about the rest, at least do yourself the favor of waiting a couple weeks to find a few in the $5.99 used section. I wager it won’t be too long.

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Comments

i too love the song Louisiana. it's amazing. i'm bummed to hear that the rest of the album was disappointing. i haven't heard it yet.

Posted by benjyc on 07/23/2006

Downloads

My Mixtape Louisiana [MP3]

Album Details

Year: 2006
Label: Record Collection
Producer:
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Tracklist

1	Louisiana
2	Danny's At The Wedding
3	Good For You's Good For Me
4	Emma, Get Me A Lemon
5	All Hands And The Cook
6	Lost In Boston
7	Don't Get Me Down (Come On Over Here)
8	Tenley Town
9	This Job Is Killing Me
10	Brandy Alexander
11	Always After You ('Til You Started After Me)
12	Another One Goes By

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The Walkmen A Hundred Miles Off New from: $4.48 Used from: $2.24

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