All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

In 'The Blue Route,' it hits home like a 30th birthday--and as the standout 'In The New Year' points out, realizing "It's all over anyhow" can be invigorating, a way of readying oneself for the next, far more interesting chapter.

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100

Delusions of Adequacy

The album’s majestic brilliance reveals itself through subtle perfections that appear with repeated listens.

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100

The Guardian

Intimate, intense and beautiful, You & Me demands repeat plays and the Walkmen deserve a new respect.

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Austin Chronicle

The Walkmen have solidified their place among our memories.

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cokemachineglow

This variation in the songcraft amid absolute adherence to a predetermined aesthetic attests to the band’s ability to craft a well-paced, engaging arc, an album as much attuned to its coherency as it is to being a springboard for a few spectacular singles.

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Filter

You & Me has a panache that hearkens to an earlier era, acting like a rich veneer. Layers of energy, intimacy and meaning rise to the surgace to become a deeper part of you and me with each and every listen. [Fall 2008, p.91]

Pitchfork

You & Me isn't as hard or immediate as the band's earlier records, but that's not a complaint; Its sound is coy, and invites you to spend time with it.

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Paste Magazine

Melodic post-punk gives way to a wider sonic landscape, yielding to muted tones that dovetail comfortably with Hamilton Leithauser’s now-audible vocals.

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All Music Guide

You & Me delves deeply into the evocative ballads that have made the band fascinating since "Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone."

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Billboard

It's muted, but intoxicating stuff.

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Boston Globe

Much has been made of Leithauser's voice, which often feels choked, but on You & Me, could one imagine a more perfect instrument?

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Drowned In Sound

It’s not a showy record, but one that when peeled apart reveals itself to be a darker and more engaging album than on first listen. But not only that, as it might also be the best thing they’ve ever done.

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Spin

The hooks are hidden in dense atmospherics, but after a few late-night sessions, these grand, moody songs will reveal secrets worth waiting up for. [Oct 2008, p.122]

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New York Magazine

It rewards that attention with small pleasures: guitar and organ playing off each other’s reverb, bass and drum dancing in and out of step, horns and vocals collapsing into a single bellow. In essence, it offers that luxuriant buzz that made rock and roll one of the great narcotics of the last half-century.

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Q Magazine

This fourth album is all the better for its subdued tone, mining its own strain of sozzled melancholia via underwater guitars, waltzing rhythms and lyrics steeped in wistful regret. [Nov 2008, p.123]

Tiny Mix Tapes

It’s impossible to fully return all the way home again, but You & Me is the next best thing.

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PopMatters

[Leithauser’s] voice has filled out, like an adolescent discovering girls and his true sound at the same time. But too often on You & Me the rest of the group sounds pedestrian, cautiously still and unambitiously sticking to what they know so well.

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Prefix Magazine

The album is another solid (if somewhat too long) set by a band firmly in control of where it is at and what it’s doing.

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Alternative Press

You & Me is a consolidation of strengths, intensity and pathos with enough '60s echo-chamber reverb to singe synapses. [Oct 2008, p.153]

Under The Radar

Most of these tracks should be outright downers, but the contrasts between sorrow, hope, loneliness, and independence strike just the right balance. [Fall 2008, p.85]

Dusted Magazine

There’s no question that when they get it right, the Walkmen are captivating. But with songs like 'Long Time Ahead of Us' and 'New Country,' the only thing keeping your attention is Hamilton Leithauser’s slurred laments.

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Rolling Stone

The songwriting has never been stronger or more eclectic.

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NOW Magazine

This album feels firmly in the gutter, and that’s a positive for slurring Dylan-phile Hamilton Leithauser, who moans and wails throughout, ruminating about lost friends and lovers while the guitars pour reverb-drenched notes over his sepia moments.

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Slant Magazine

You & Me is a thoroughly Walkmen-esque album, however tautological it may be to say so.

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Magnet

Loads of echo and reverb rescue the album from this potentially fatal flaw, but overall, You & Me is a mixed bag.

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Uncut

Guitars still sound like they were recorded in an igloo, while the singer's Dylan obsession only really pays off on woozy waltz 'Red Moon,' assisted by Matt Barrick's skeletal drum accompaniment. [Nov 2008, p.128]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 9.1 (out of 10) based on 45 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John B. gave it a10:
I only started getting into the walkmen when they released Bows and Arrows. So I didn't have a rich history of expectation leading into this album. At first, I liked a few songs a lot and the others faded into the background. But after repeated listens, I don't know how I didn't notice the other songs...they're the standouts now. Even though they're influenced by black-and-white old fashioness, this album sounds timeless, and each song is brimming with authentic, simple emotion...and fun. Tied for my favorite album of 2008 along with the French Kick's "Swimming".

TKO FOX gave it a7:
This album is good. Some songs aren't as good as others, however, collectively this album seems to mean more then others. This isn't a hard listen, "In The New Year" is great.

flubs gave it a10:
This is a seriously amazing album, one of the best of 2008... Uncut clearly wouldn't know how to pick a decent album even if it slapped them in their face several times over, back and fourth, back and fourth.

Peter P. gave it a2:
Only One song saves the disc: In the new year, the rest, is so disappointment.

Pat K gave it a10:
Awesome CD... Cannot get enough.

J J gave it a10:
Album of the year!

J C gave it a10:
The masterpiece of 2008.

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You & Me

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