The Walkmen w/ Japandroids @ the Trocadero 10/23

In many respects, the Walkmen are the East Coast’s version of California-based Cold War Kids. Both bands feature big, bluesy guitars, driving percussion, plenty of piano and a dude who can throw his voice around at will. But unlike CWK, known for having a great fucking time when they play shows, the Walkmen were relatively stagnant Saturday night at the Trocadero.

Even Japandroids, who rocked out for all of their short set before the Walkmen took the stage, seemed a little worn-down: instead of their usual chatter between songs, the duo was relatively silent. Blood Feathers, from Philadelphia, also played some uninventive rock at the night’s outset.

In some respect, a less-than-stellar performance from the Walkmen on Saturday should be expected — the band has been touring since early July, and Philly had the luck of being the last U.S. tour stop before the band meets up with the Black Keys to play a few shows overseas. Let’s pause here to give some props to the band’s drummer, Matt Barrick, for being the only Walkman to consistently play like he was a living human being. And credit the band for laying down a sweaty, soaring rendition of “The Rat” in the encore, as well as just sounding pretty good in general. But for most of the show, the band was less than dynamic: the five rarely interacted with one another, mainly contenting themselves to just play their parts and get on to the UK.