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Echo-drenched melancholic pop from New York's finest

Don’t ever accuse The Walkmen of not putting their heart and soul into their work. ‘The Blue Route’, from the new album ‘You and Me’, shows just how far these New Yorkers have come in the two years since their last release.

Sounding like a cult hit band from the sixties (maybe that’s just because everything’s drenched in echo), the guitar here is screechingly perfect. Mean, moody, and magnificent, Hamilton Leithauser’s voice cuts through the cacophony as he cries “What’s happened to you?” It makes you wonder what happened to the poor guy to create the song…

B-side ‘Canadian Girl’ is another slice of sixties-inspired melancholic pop, sitting somewhere between the Righteous Brothers and Bob Dylan, with an indie twist. The melody rises and falls like waves, and it’s impossible not to be swept along with it. It’s a bit like being drunk, when the sounds all blur together and you’re never quite sure what the person talking to you is saying.