Thank you. Final week for that. If you are reading this currently, you most likely have not filled it out. But maybe you have! A few of you did! I am very thankful for all my friends who attempt to keep up with the onslaught of bullshit that this blog throws at you. It's helpful to me, emotionally, when you participate. So thank you for helping me feel better.
JOE'S PITCH: As explained last week, I just thought it would be funny to do an album and then immediately to a track-by-track cover of that album by another artist. Doing a two-week-long bit also affords me an opportunity to hawk the annual summer survey without stepping on anyone else's picks.
We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people.
THIS WEEK: We are 43 weeks away from Week 420.
Record Club:
WEEK 377 — April 19-25, 2026
"Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen
by the Walkmen
LISTEN:
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PICKED BY JOE
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ALBUM DETAILS
TITLE: Two things annoy me. The first is that there shouldn't be quotation marks around the name of an album, even when an album title is embedded in another album title. But that's the Walkmen's fault, so there's nothing we can do about it. The second thing that annoys me is that Apple Music asterisks the title so that it looks like "P***y Cats" Starring the Walkmen. Even if it was referring to the slang for a vagina, I think it's fucked up that that's the word we're censoring. Let's get some pussy power up in here!!!
GENRE: Indie rock, rock & roll, baroque pop
GENRE: Indie rock, rock & roll, baroque pop
RELEASED: October 24, 2006 (32 years, two months, and five days after Pussy Cats)
LENGTH: 39:39 (three minutes and nine seconds longer than Pussy Cats)
TRACKLIST:
- Many Rivers to Cross
- Subterranean Homesick Blues (ft. Ian Svenonius)
- Don't Forget Me
- All My Life
- Old Forgotten Soldier
- Save the Last Dance for Me (ft. Ian Svenonius)
- Mucho Mungo / Mt. Elga (ft. Quentin Stoltzfus)
- Loop de Loop
- Black Sails (ft. Rockwell)
- Rock Around the Clock (ft. Ian Svenonius)
LYRICS: some but not all on Genius
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ARTIST DETAILS
PRONOUNS: Leithauser, Martin, and Bauer each use he/him/his pronouns
ABOUT: The Walkmen formed in New York City in 2000. However, the members all grew around each other in Washington D.C., and mostly attended the same high school. The band consists of five members: frontman Hamilton Leithauser (vocals), Paul Maroon (guitar, keyboards), Walter Martin (bass, organ), Peter Matthew Bauer (organ, bass), and Matt Barrick (drums). They came together after two previous NY bands broke up—Leithauser and Bauer were in the Recoys, and Maroon, Martin, and Barrick were in Jonathan Fire*Eater. The latter was a forebearer of a scene that the Walkmen would soon become an integral part of: 2000s-era NYC post-punk revival. The big lynchpin of their legacy is "The Rat," which will often be ranked as one of the best, and sometimes the best, song of that scene. Though their work stretched beyond that song. They were active for thirteen years, and went on hiatus in 2013 before doing a reunion tour in 2023. They had their own studio called Marcata Studios until 2006, when the space was bought by Columbia University; "Pussy Cats" Starring the Walkmen was recorded to say goodbye to that studio.
DISCOGRAPHY: This is their fourth of seven albums. Their first was Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me Is Gone in 2002, followed by their most famous album, 2004's Bows + Arrows. Their most recent album is 2013's Heaven, with no plans on recording any more material.
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ADDITIONAL INFO
READING SOME SHIT: A 2013 Stereogum feature during the final days before the Walkmen's hiatus
WATCHING SOME SHIT: I couldn't find evidence of the Walkmen ever performing these songs live, so here's a 2010 concert with the hits instead
RECORD CLUB CONNECTIONS: See: last week.
But also! The Walkmen are part of the 2000s NYC indie rock scene, a scene which was documented in the oral history book Meet Me in the Bathroom. The Walkmen are in that book. Here are some other RC bands that were in there (though mostly NOT for albums from that specific era): the Black Keys, the Killers, the White Stripes (before/during the Raconteurs), the National, We Are Scientists, and Death Cab for Cutie. The guy who picked that RC album, Seth Cohen, saw the Walkmen perform on The O.C.
Finally, I was curious if there any other RC albums that had the name of the artist in the title of the album, but were NOT self-titled albums. Here's what I found: Mcclusky Do Dallas, The Beach Boys' Christmas Album, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (maybe?), Famoe's 16Bar Rap-Blog EP (definitely), and My Name Is Joe.
MENTIONS ON THE BLOG: Wait, what? No one has ever written about the Walkmen? That's fine. I mentioned them in a toss-off Song of the Day thing, but that's it. I could've sworn someone chose "The Rat" for YSC at some point. Great song. Probably the only song of theirs that I like... until I hear their cover of "Loop de Loop" this week.
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COUNTDOWN:
69 Weeks Until Week 420
We are tracking and counting down every week from here on out till Record Club Week 420. We started this countdown 69 weeks out. During Record Club Week 420, we will be covering Donny Most by the esteemed Happy Days virgin Donny Most. The goal for Week 420 of Record Club is that it will feature 69 reviews from 69 different people.
THIS WEEK: We are 43 weeks away from Week 420.
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Happy listening, RC family!
Have a great week!
Have a great week!
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