http://www.marcata.net/walkmen/

Let's just get the obvious out of the way: Yes, they did generate the Ion craze for Saturn as they loaned their talents of "We've Been Had" to the commercials.

But that isn't exactly what put them on the map. The Walkmen formed in 2000 in New York after the disbanding of Jonathan Fire Eater in 1998 and The Recoys. With the remainder of the funding Jonathan Fire Eater received from Dreamworks, they established a 24-track recording studio as well as a rehearsal space in New York City called Marcata Studios, completed in the fall of 1999. The merging of the two bands (Fire Eater's Walter Martin, Paul Maroon, and Matt Barrick/Recoy's Hamilton Leithauser and Peter Bauer) in 2000 seemed pretty natural -- they'd all grown up in the Washington, D.C. area and they have family connections; Martin and Leithauser are cousins.

The band played their first show at Joe's Pub in the East Village in September of 2000 shortly after they released their first EP that is simply self-titled. The ear-catching "We've Been Had" was included on the 4-song EP, and included in their 2002 full-length debut on StarTime Records, Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Making a conscious attempt to deviate from the sounds of their previous musical ventures, The Walkmen incorporated piano into their latest, 2004's Bow's + Arrows, as they dabbled in recording techniques and experimental instrumentation. Translation: it sounds great.

So while they may have promoted a slow ride through childhood in a compact car, The Walkmen can easily pace you through adult years in a mid-sized sedan.

-Jennifer McCloskey
02.16.2004