The Walkmen - A Hundred Miles Off

Reviews of A Hundred Miles Off

Rating Summary
3.5 by Rolling Stone Even the brilliant 2004 single "The Rat" -- a furious put-down delivered via car-crash drumming and brittle guitars -- wasn't enough to shed the Walkmen's rep as New York garage-rock second-stringers.... Read more
n/a by www.stylusmagazine.com It’s the band’s throatiest, most pressing and urgent release to date. Read more
n/a by www.drawerb.com This is not an easy record to absorb. The band’s rough-hewn production is tinny and sonically chaotic, but underneath the surface noise lurks one of the finest records of the year. Read more
n/a by Billboard A set of rousing, sharply focused, late-night pleas and barroom romps that take the group well beyond its garage roots. Read more
n/a by www.nowtoronto.com The songs are still full of lush guitars and dense, clattering percussion, but offer the added bonus of being more grandiose and emotional. Read more
n/a by arts.guardian.co.uk Despite all the palpable influences, the Walkmen have made this album their own. Read more
n/a by www.austinchronicle.com The Walkmen haven't changed much since B&A... but they've honed their nervy talent chiseling lines of post-punk history. Read more
n/a by www.avclub.com The Walkmen careen through 12 songs that frequently devolve into sound-swallowing echo and boozy bellow, until the whole album becomes one long, moody abstraction. Read more
n/a by www.shakingthrough.net The concentrated unity of form and content that elevated sterling sophomore effort Bows & Arrows has been replaced by a footloose approach to songwriting and style that fails to mesh. Read more
n/a by www.lostatsea.net Overall, A Hundred Miles Off is less intense than one may expect; there is no "The Rat" on this record. Read more
n/a by www.adequacy.net While this most recent release does not equal the shimmering weight of Bows and Arrows, it has more than enough potency to stand on its own. Read more
n/a by Pitchfork Media Despite occasional flashes of inspiration, much of the record blends together into a whole that is somehow much less than the sum of its parts; the ingredients are colorful, but the end result is disappointingly dull. Read more
n/a by uk.launch.yahoo.com As a result of [Leithauser's] strangulated mewls and caterwauls, "A Hundred Miles Off" is at times very difficult to listen to indeed. Read more
n/a by www.ew.com The CD's austere instrumentation brings out the worst in Leithauser, whose once-endearing tunelessness becomes a whining deterrent. Read more
n/a by Popmatters When the Walkmen are on, they can be as compelling as ever, but they’ve just spent too much time creating television-drama background music and not enough energy stretching themselves. Read more
n/a by www.prefixmag.com A Hundred Miles Off needs a single or a hook to balance its trebly extremes, and Leithauser's good-ol'-boy tenor has lost some of its edge, tripping too easily into the whiny nether regions. Read more
n/a by www.playlouder.com So while Hamilton Leithauser believes he's made a record comparable to the legendary 'The Basement Tapes', it seems almost churlish to point out that you'd be far better off digging out a copy of 'The Basement Tapes' and listening to it, than going out and purchasing 'A Hundred Miles Off' and listening to it once. Read more