The Walkmen Deliver Big Sound
on a Small Stage

November 16" at Richard on Richards

Mark
Fisher

    
 

a first time I saw The Walkmen,
they were doing opening duties at the
Commodore, but they still hit the stage
with a ton of energy and something
to prove. At their headlining show at
Richards, they got off to a much slower
start, and didn’t seem nearly as excited
to be there. The member who seemed
to be lacking the most energy was
The Walkmen’s frontman, Hamilton
Leithauser—especially during the set’s
opening few numbers where he was just
singing blandly into the mic. Once he
brought out his guitar, the show’s energy
level definitely picked up. Maybe he just
needed the mental stimulus from that to
get him going.

Even when he’s not giving 100%,

Leithauser is still an incredible frontman.
His unique voice and stylish delivery
makes every song exciting. And thanks
to his 6’4”’ stature, he takes up a huge
amount of room on a small stage like the
one at Richards. Hamilton is just one of
those people who is hard to look away
from; you’re always
wondering what he’s
going to do next. When
he left the stage during
an extended music
break to get a beer, a
giant hole seemed to
be left on the stage, one
that the other musicians
playing couldn’t quite
fill.

I have to admire
how a large five piece
band managed to make
such good work out of
the small stage. Matt
Barrick, the band’s
drummer, had = an
especially hard time,
pushed far to the back of the upper level
of the stage he had to use one hand to
steady himself while using the other
to pound his skins as hard as he could
during “The Rat.” It looked like the

entire drum kit could have fallen over at
any point during that song.

The Walkmen have lots of great
songs, and even more great song titles.
Many of them strike a personal chord
with me, such as “This Job is Killing
Me” [Editor’s note: are you trying to

 

tell us something Mark?], “What’s In
It For Me?” and “No Christmas While
I’m Talking.” They also played several
songs that have yet to be released, and
judging from what I heard their next

album should be stellar. I can’t wait to
get a studio version of “What Happened
To You?” so I can listen to it repeatedly
(Youtube will have to suffice in the
meantime). Whoever came up with the
idea of having a song where the entire
chorus is the words “what happened to

you” repeatedly shouted

“Even when he’s not giving 100%, Leithauser is the top of the singer’s
still an incredible frontman.”

lungs is a genius; everyone
knows someone who they
want to scream that at, so
it’s a song that connects
with everyone.

The Walkmen definitely
connected with the
audience, who brought
_ them back for a second
encore after a lengthy first
one. Kudos to both the
band and the crowd, as I
was almost ready to walk
out the door when they
returned the second time.
I’m glad I didn’t though,
as the second encore
definitely made the night for me, and it
gave the show a needed “you really do
care!” moment between the crowd and
the band.

 

“Galaxy” may be Mario’s Best Yet

lain
Reeve
assistant editor

 
    

Tie most recognized character in
the gaming world returns for a new
adventure in Super Mario Galaxy. Many
are calling this game the unofficial sequel
to the N64’s Mario 64, one of the most
celebrated games of all time, and the
godfather of 3D platform gaming. While
this game is not exactly the same game
experience as its immediate predecessor,
it rounds out the experience by drawing
influence from many of Mario’s other
journeys, and the final product is the
best 3D platformer Nintendo has ever
produced.

Anyone who has played a lot of
Mario 64 will immediately feel at home
in controlling the world’s most famous
plumber in this installment. The same
jumps, tumbles, and walks are there, but
instead of punching and kicking, Mario
is equipped with a spin attack that is
activated by shaking the Wii Remote.
While I initially missed being able to
punch Goomba’s flat in the face, I came
to enjoy to the spin as, among other
things, it lets you gain a little bit of extra

height when jumping.

While the game certainly doesn’t
have the control and camera issues that
Mario 64 had—I always say that most
of the difficult part of that game was
getting Mario to do what
you wanted—but the camera
still betrays you at times.
You don’t have control of it
all the time, and with all the
upside down and sideways
walking that Mario does,
a little more control might
have been nice.

But it is exactly those
gravity-defying situations
that make this Mario game
unique. You will run on every
side of small planetoids, walk
carefully through buildings
where the gravity throws you
every direction depending
where you jump, and will be
thrown through the air like
never before. The gameplay
is similar to 64, but the levels are more
linear. Instead of running around a huge
area, exploring, trying to track down the
star that corresponds to the vague hint
you were given—which was sometimes
fun, sometimes frustrating—you have a
pretty direct path. There are still secret
areas, but they feel more like the tube to
the warp zone in Super Mario Brothers
than the hidden stars of 64.

Visually Galaxy pushes the envelope

more than any other Wii game so far. I
think most Wii users are over the fact that
the graphics on the system are not state
of the art, but these ones service Mario
well. Mario and his enemies are at their

“Visually Galaxy pushes the envelope
more than any other Wii game so far.”

 

most detailed, and the levels brim with
colour and shine. Character and enemy
design is at the centre of any Mario
game, and while few of the new entrants
are likely to be immortalized alongside
the goomba, koopas, and bullet bills they
share the stage with, they don’t look out
of place.

The game’s music is brilliant. Nintendo
veteran Koji Kondo— who has produced
the music for every major Mario game,

along with most of Nintendo’s other
big franchises—finally get to put his
classical training to good use with
lush and triumphant orchestrations.
The soundtrack includes classic Mario
tracks—some not heard since
Mario Brothers 3—and some new
ones that range from classically
Mario sounding tunes to 70s sci-fi
throwback anthems that go far to
sell the game’s outer space theme.
Koji has come a long way from
composing the original theme
on four channels of synthesized
sound. Voice acting and sounds
are exactly where they ought to
be, but you do start to tune out
Mario’s screaming and cheering
after a while.

The game is not perfect: the
camera had me jumping to my
doom more than once, the lack of
exploration is a bit of a let down,
and the story takes a step too far
over the cutesy line for me. But by
and large this is probably the best Mario
game ever, and it’s easily the best game
on the Wii thus far. The boss fights are
fantastic, the levels are varied, endlessly
creative, and exciting. The game’s
puzzles and challenges have already had
me swearing when I fail, and cheering
when I succeed—much to the chagrin of
my sleeping girlfriend.

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