The Walkmen - You & Me (Fierce Panda) ***

2:24pm Friday 3rd October 2008

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BE warned - You & Me will mess with your heart rate. There's something in its grooves that plays wild and free with the listener's internal settings. It's far from unpleasant though, merely a little unsettling.

Emotional music played by men in black is always welcome round these parts and The Walkmen don't disappoint.

Singer Hamilton Leithauser channels Dylan throughout, but particularly on the love-lorn I Lost You; while The Blue Route offers the suggestion of an uplifting conclusion. But generally the mood is quite sombre as dusty organ and rusty guitar rub against bourbon-soaked drums and bass in a consciously rolling mood that could be mistaken, wrongly, for a sulk.

Instead, think of it as hard-won world-weariness and benefit from its wisdom.