As is becoming routine, I apologize for the lack of activity on my blog. After a month or so of relatively calm waters, the hurricane that is grad school has finally gained strength, knocking me and my blog well off course. At the moment, I believe I’m in the eye of the storm, so bear with my if I don’t resurface for another few weeks.

But enough of that. I’ve been sitting on this month’s Artist Spotlight for quite some time. I started listening to them at the beginning of 2007 (thanks to eMusic), though I had known of their existence for several years. I’m just disappointed it took me so long to get into them.

The band is The Walkmen and they have a sound that’s difficult to categorize. The one thing I can tell you with certainty is that the singer sounds like Bob Dylan. Their older material reminds me of Interpol (but not really), while their latest stuff is very bluesy. You should probably just listen to the tracks posted below.

You may recognize the first song from a Saturn car commercial (which I never saw) that garnered The Walkmen a modest amount of attention a few years back - similar to how the VW commercial revived interest in Nick Drake (but not really). The second song posted is the stunning title track from my favorite Walkmen album, Bows + Arrows. And the last song beautifully closes their most recent LP A Hundred Miles Off.

mp3: The Walkmen - We’ve Been Had
mp3: The Walkmen - Bows & Arrows
mp3: The Walkmen - Another One Goes By

PS - Don’t let the poor quality of this post influence your opinion of The Walkmen. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!