L to R: Maroon, Bauer, Leithauser, Barrick, Martin
The Walkmen were an American indie rock/post-punk revival band, commonly associated with the NYC rock scene of the '00s and based in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia.
The band formed in 2000 with three members from Jonathan Fire*Eater—Paul Maroon (guitar, piano), Walter Martin (organ/bass), and Matt Barrick (drums) — and two from The Recoys, Peter Bauer (bass/organ) and Hamilton Leithauser (vocals, guitar). They went on an indefinite hiatus in 2014, after releasing seven studio albums.
Tropes:
- Animal Motifs: "The Rat".
- Animated Music Video: "On the Water", telling the story of two rabbits running into some trouble on a farm.
- Band of Brothers: Martin and Leithauser are first cousins.
- Break-Up Song: "The Rat", of the "claims it's over but is in denial" variety.
- Cover Album: "Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen, which is a song-by-song cover of Harry Nilsson's Pussy Cats.
- Deliberately Monochrome: The music video for "The Rat".
- Friendship Song: "Heaven".
- Harsh Vocals: Leithauser is known for his distinctive gritty vocals.
- Large Ham: Leithauser's recognizable delivery has been described as "apoplectic" and involves quite a bit of howling.
- Location Song: "Louisiana", "Lisbon",
- Long-Runner Line-up: Type I, with the lineup staying the same throughout the 14 years the band were together.
- Non-Appearing Title: Many songs, including their most famous tracks like "The Rat" and "On the Water".
- One-Woman Song: "Angela Surf City", commonly shortened to just "Angela".
- One-Word Title: "Heaven", "Heartbreaker", "Dreamboat", "Nightingales", "Lousiana", "Lisbon", "Flamingos", "Juveniles" and the albums Heaven and Lisbon.
- Performance Video: "The Rat".
- Sharp Dressed Men: Much like their NYC peers Interpol, The Walkmen dressed to impress when performing, eschewing T-shirts and opting for polo shirts or suits instead.
- Title Track: Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, Bows + Arrows, Heaven and Lisbon each have one.
- Unrequited Love: "I Lost You".
