The Walkmen – Heaven

Despite their success The Walkmen couldn’t claim to be the most adventurous of bands. Ten years on from releasing their debut LP, the New York-based quintet continue to pursue the sort of jangling indie waltzes that regularly bedeck the background of technicolor teenage soap operas. Yet, admirably, the band execute their rigid stock with a refinement that stretches beyond their contemporaries' reach, as proven on 2010’s career high Lisbon.

Led by the soaring croon of frontman Hamilton Leithauser, album number seven Heaven maintains their march to the mainstream. A highly-polished affair, much of the record strikes a balance between Heartbreaker and Nightingale’s peppy blasts and the more sombre plucking of Line by Line and No One Ever Sleeps. It’s not exactly divine listening, but the title track’s charging, off-piste pulse underlines just how impressive this pony’s one trick can be. Who needs adventure when you have The Walkmen?