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Confident, daring, regal, and altogether incredible, Bows & Arrows knows its bounds and casually out-steps them; simply put, it is the best record released this year.
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Entertainment WeeklyBows and Arrows reveals a band that's grown tighter, hungrier, and more varied since last time. [6 Feb 2004]
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Each of these songs displays a mastery of craft rarely heard.
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Looks back to prehistoric U2 and Cure records for inspiration.
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Bows and Arrows is an album of grandiose pleasures, the sound of a band not just making good on the promise of their debut, but expanding every which way at once, merging distinctive songcraft with decadent theatrics, and tethering themselves to a confidence that they, unlike others, will survive the sea-change of a deflating scene.
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Though sonically similar to its predecessor, the new album sets aside whimsical wandering to make room for more straight-for-the-heart (by way of the throat) conviction; simply put, it rocks harder.
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It's tumultuous. It's breathtaking. It's expressive without the barest hint of Radiomuse indulgence.
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This is a work that blends a preoccupation with both the maudlin and mundane with the musical sensibility of the Factory Records collection.
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Musically, the Walkmen are not only tighter, but also more purposeful.
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Overwhelmingly, it all adds up to an album that will never make a fuss in your collection, but every now and then you'll remember how much you love it.
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Even with a couple of missteps, this is a solid album that will likely stay in heavy rotation on your stereo for months to come.
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UncutSodden with emotional profundity. [May 2004, p.104]
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PlanetBright, brash rock songs colored by staccato rhythms, new wave keyboards, and jagged speedy-clean guitars are juxtaposed with drony, understated post-Velvets moments. [#6, p.86]
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Bows + Arrows may not be a drastic change from Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone, but their music, built on loud guitars and organs and strange reflections and remembrances, is so unique that drastic change isn't necessary, and simply having more of it around is more than enough.
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The songwriting and production are sharper and the scope is decidedly larger, capturing the bands conflicting urge to play the introspective balladeer and the pub-crawling mod-rocker.
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Quite simply, 'Bows + Arrows' is a Great American Record, taking the qualities most admired in the last 35 years of US rock and barbecuing them together.
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Q MagazineIntriguing, stylish stuff. [May 2004, p.111]
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The Walkmen have something the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are lacking: passion.
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This is at once a record to rock out to, a record to contemplate, and a record to immediately buy if you think it impossible for a band this well-hyped to defy their own press.
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All in all, the album is a good one, but still feels a small step away from being great.
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Many numbers, such as the unbearably meandering No Christmas While Im Talking, present themselves as merely background music - pleasant enough, sure, but doing little to draw the listeners attention.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 49 out of 53
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Mixed: 1 out of 53
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Negative: 3 out of 53
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Oct 9, 2013
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Jun 20, 2012
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AshCFeb 4, 2007