The Walkmen: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert
The Walkmen s wiry, weary, seething rock n roll has mellowed in recent years, as veinbulging hollers have given way to a richer, more gently paced and layered sound. But it s still not exactly the stuff of campfire crooning: We d spent the days leading up to this Tiny Desk Concert in the NPR Music offices wondering how on earth The Walkmen would downsize these songs behind Bob Boilen s desk. For one thing, Hamilton Leithauser sings with such intensity that it d be hard to dial down the instrumentation too much you d never hear it. Leithauser may wield an acoustic guitar in these three songs, but this is no awkward attempt to shoehorn booming rock anthems into meek arrangements that don t suit them. From the opening notes of Heaven, the magnificently stirring title track of The Walkmen s recent seventh album, it became clear that these guys were making the Tiny Desk accommodate their sound rather than the other way around. Leithauser s voice soared far down the hallways at various points in all three of
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