Since their 2002 debut, Everyone That Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, the Walkmen have evolved from a skittering, vintage indie band into something far more driven. A highlight along the way, of course: the New York band's teetering-on-the-edge masterwork, "The Rat," which is easily one of the decades' great unhinged rock performances. So now comes Heaven, arguably the band's most cohesive album to date, tighter and grander than anything we have heard before.
That rare rock'n'roll record chronicling domestic contentment, Heaven glories in the strength of lasting relationships. "We'll never leave / we can't be beat / the world is ours," sings Hamilton Leithauser on the jangly, opening strummer, "We Can't Be Beat." Later, he recognizes "these are the good years / the best we'll ever know / these golden light years." Little wonder the album's photos include the band with their spouses, girlfriends, and children; these guys are genuinely giddy about their current good fortune. For goodness sakes, Leithauser even adds a sweet song about singing to his daughter ("Song for Leigh").
Though this is not the messied-up and raging version of the band from ten years ago, Heaven is a welcome and varied collection of clear-eyed rock songs with the unmistakeable mark of golden experience. The clean, luminous guitars are also noteworthy. The record's pristine production, wisely, allows them plenty of space to sparkle. So there is also room for Leithauser's gruff warble--here, stretched out to its finest capacities--to carry the emotional weight of marriage, children, and friends. On the album's remarkable title track, he sings "stick with me / oh you're my best friend / all of my life / you've always been," and closes with the powerful reminder, "remember remember / all we fight for." Indeed.
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