The Walkmen, Evanescence, The Darkness

[Bags]

The Walkmen, Striding Back Into Town
 
 By David Segal
 Washington Post Staff Writer
 Sunday, February 1, 2004; Page N04
 
 New York claims them -- well, they live there, after all -- but Washington is where all five of the Walkmen were raised and first rocked. Last year, keyboardist Walter Martin, guitarist Paul Maroon, drummer Matt Barrick, bass player Peter Bauer and vocalist Hamilton Leithauser released their debut, "Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone," a gloomily atmospheric and intriguingly strange album of guitar-and-organ rock that will be best remembered for a song called "We've Been Had," which provided the soundtrack for a Saturn car commercial. Despite some advance hype that had the group mentioned in the same "Manhattan is back!" stories as the Strokes, "Everyone" didn't make the Walkmen famous. Then again, their music, with its fractured rhythms and Leithauser's banshee vocals, is more about mood than pop. A follow-up album, "Bows + Arrows," is out this month, and the band regularly puts on a gripping show. The Walkmen play the 9:30 club Feb. 26.
 
 Evanescence put a pretty, pouty face on Goth metal with "Fallen," one of the big surprise hit albums of last year. The group, led by the comely Amy Lee and hailing from Arkansas, sounds a bit like Celine Dion backed by Linkin Park, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and in concert the group could be described as Vegas meets the mosh pit. The band plays DAR Constitution Hall on Feb. 28.
 
 Reviving the bombast and huggy trousers of '70s and '80s arena rock, the Darkness is a British neo-glam band that considers Queen and early Van Halen the greatest achievement in recorded sound. Last year's debut album, "Permission to Land," was a blustery, borderline-ridiculous mix of falsetto and machismo that could have been one of the world's great leg pulls. But in concert it's clear from all the high kicks and swagger that lead singer Justin Hawkins isn't kidding. He means it. If you miss rock the way it was once served back when "Bohemian Rhapsody" ruled, don't miss the Darkness on April 6 at the 9:30 club.

[ggw]

THE WALKMEN At his yowling worst, the Walkmen's singer, Hamilton Leithauser, sounds like a drunken Bono imitating a drunken Bob Dylan. But his bandmates know how to revivify a well-worn chord progression, and when he connects, Mr. Leithauser's glazed fury is transfixing. On Tuesday the Walkmen release their second album, "Bows and Arrows" (Record Collection/Warner Brothers), an audacious collection of bleary convulsions and beery lullabies. On "The Rat," Mr. Leithauser sputters, "You've got a nerve to be asking a favor," while the drummer Matt Barrick strikes up a furious, petulant rhythm. And "My Old Man" is a swaggering dose of restrained resentment; Mr. Leithauser sneers, as if the only thing between him and a fight were his band's imperturbable beat.
 
 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/01/arts/music/01PLAY.html

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

http://pocketcalculatorshow.com/walkman/

<img src="http://www.toobusy.org/images/b/janetjacksonnipple.jpg" alt=" - " />

[ggw]

Originally posted by Bags:
  sounds a bit like Celine Dion backed by Linkin Park, which isn't necessarily a bad thing,

Yes.  It is a bad thing.  It's a very, very bad thing.

[flawd101]

evanescence is not goth metal.....they are a gothic as sunday mass.