Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone

• Artist: The Walkmen
• Rating:
• Release Date: March 26, 2002
• Genre: Rock

Review

Waves of dark, shimmering guitar riffs cascade over you as the Walkmen conjure up ghosts of the Velvet Underground on "They're Winning," the introduction to the band's debut, Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone. Made up of three survivors of the industry's one-time "future of rock & roll" band, Jonathan Fire*Eater (organist Walter Martin, guitarist Paul Maroon, and drummer Matt Barrick), along with bassist Peter Bauer and vocalist Hamilton Leithauser, the Walkmen combine the aforementioned group's skewed mod rock minus the major-label polish. Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone points at the band's roots -- New York City's late-'70s/early-'80s CBGB's scene. It is not so much that the Walkmen sound like Television or the Talking Heads or Blondie, but that they, like their NYC peers Interpol, the French Kicks, and Radio 4, evoke the gritty, urban energy so well. "Wake Up," previously released on the band's debut EP, is downright eerie as vocalist Hamilton Leithauser moans over the twisting melody. The title track is an intense spiral of space rock with spare but melodramatic string flourishes. "Revenge Wears No Wristwatch" is so stripped that it is propelled almost entirely by the drumbeat. "The Blizzard of '96," "Stop Talking," and the strangely catchy "We've Been Had" chime like a broken music box with an off-kilter, storybook glimmer. What world do these songs come from? Clearly, it is someplace magical -- a Tim Burton dream, a Wim Wenders skyline, maybe a comic book Gotham or manga artist Paul Pope's futuristic curry-scented, Tokyo-ized New York City. But, wherever it is, you'll be drawn into the parallel universe as soon as you push "play." ~ Charles Spano, All Music Guide

Tracks

Track Title	Composers	Performers	Time
They're Winning		The Walkmen	(2:06)
Wake Up	The Walkmen	The Walkmen	(4:13)
Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone		The Walkmen	(4:12)
Revenge Wears No Wristwatch	The Walkmen	The Walkmen	(3:20)
The Blizzard of '96		The Walkmen	(3:01)
French Vacation		The Walkmen	(4:31)
Stop Talking		The Walkmen	(4:07)
We've Been Had	The Walkmen	The Walkmen	(3:29)
Roll Down the Line		The Walkmen	(3:11)
That's the Punch Line		The Walkmen	(3:13)
It Should Take a While		The Walkmen	(6:22)
Rue the Day	The Walkmen	The Walkmen	(3:36)
I'm Never Bored		The Walkmen	(5:28)

Credits

Greg Talenfeld (Producer), Walter Martin (Organ), The Walkmen (Producer), Andrew Winslow (Engineer), Hamilton Leithauser (Guitar), Paul Maroon (Piano), Karen Waltuch (String Section), Hamilton Leithauser (Vocals), Kirsten McCord (String Section), Meredith Yayanos (String Section), Paul Maroon (Guitar), Walter Martin (Tapes)

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