"Today's a day like any other" - "Angela Surf City"
Lisbon is a typically great album from The Walkmen, one of the tightest groups in the current Indie scene. Though trend-hopping seems to be the bread and butter of many Indie Rock groups, The Walkmen march to the beat of their own drum. Lisbon is a sparse and lyrical masterwork, built on heavy drumbeats and skeletal guitars, elevated to transcendence by the signature howl of frontman Hamilton Leithauser. Though Lisbon sports many excellent tracks, like "Stranded," "Blue as Your Blood" and "Woe is Me," the second track, "Angela Surf City" stands out from the pack and wins the dubious honor of being Flawless Crowns' Track of the Year.
"Angela Surf City" utilizes the familiar soft-verse/loud-chorus recipe popularized by the Pixies and Nirvana, but is anything but formulaic. The verses, with a relatively subdued delivery by Leithauser over scratchy guitar and pounding drums, evoke the rolling white caps alluded to in the lyrics. The chorus, however, is a tsunami, as the guitars swtich from playing jangly riffs to thunderous power chords and Leithauser wails for his love ("You took the high road, I couldn't find you!"). "Angela Surf City" shows how the Walkmen can make any Indie Rock trope fresh through great performances and simple, yet poetic, lyrics.
"Angela Surf City" utilizes the familiar soft-verse/loud-chorus recipe popularized by the Pixies and Nirvana, but is anything but formulaic. The verses, with a relatively subdued delivery by Leithauser over scratchy guitar and pounding drums, evoke the rolling white caps alluded to in the lyrics. The chorus, however, is a tsunami, as the guitars swtich from playing jangly riffs to thunderous power chords and Leithauser wails for his love ("You took the high road, I couldn't find you!"). "Angela Surf City" shows how the Walkmen can make any Indie Rock trope fresh through great performances and simple, yet poetic, lyrics.
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