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RIFFS: The Walkmen return home

D.C. natives remain indebted to city's musical past

Originally published 04:10 a.m., September 5, 2008, updated 05:14 p.m., September 5, 2008

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Before The Walkmen relocated to New York City, the band's five members called the District their home. "It was a great place to grow up," says drummer Matt Barrick, who attended St. Albans School with three members of the band. The aspiring musicians fell in love with the District's independent punk scene, particularly those bands affiliated with the local Dischord Records label.

"We were able to see bands like Fugazi and Nation of Ulysses when we were thirteen years old," Mr. Barrick remembers. "People really welcomed young musicians. My high school band was able to open for both of those Dischord groups, despite the fact that we were godawful."

As the St. Albans students grew older, their musical tastes became more varied. At the age of 16, Mr. Barrick snuck into a Max Roach show at D.C. Space, an F Street Northwest venue that frequently housed punk bands and avant-garde artists. Mr. Roach's adventurous, unpredictable approach to percussion was an inspiration to the young drummer.

D.C. Space has long since closed its doors, and the Walkmen have decamped permanently to the Big Apple. Nevertheless, the band's D.C. upbringing has wired itself into the foundation of the Walkmen's sound.

Atmospheric and textured, the Walkmen's music cannot be classified as punk. Pianos figure prominently, as do occasional swells of strings and trumpet. Yet the band's compositions are still volatile, often flitting between dreamy, lush balladry and loud onslaughts of guitar. That volatility owes its vigor to Dischord Records, while the band's ability to evoke the romantic energy of a city is similar to jazz.

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"In the New Year," The Walkmen

"You & Me," the band's latest release, pays particular attention to textures and moods. Songs including "Donde Esta La Playa" are peppered with the breezy sounds of the beach, and "Red Moon" conjures up some Latin romance with acoustic guitars and brass. The result is an album that's at once beautiful and hauntingly lonely despite the warm locations it evokes.

"I don't know if any place in particular directly influenced our songwriting," Mr. Barrick says of the record, which was released in mid-August. "Perhaps the many dark days we have spent in the triangular mass of land between Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit have taken their toll."

This month, the band returns to its former stomping grounds with a show at the 9:30 Club on Saturday. A junior high incarnation of the Walkmen played its first show at the 9:30 Club's original location, and Mr. Barrick anticipates another solid performance at the expanded venue.

Doors open at 6:30 Saturday, tickets cost $15, and the New York klezmer band Golem will open the show.

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