0 The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Tuesday, September 14, 2010 - 7 The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom Tuesday, September14, 2010 - 7 . Sparse but sweet By EMMA GASE DailyArts Writer Though The Walkmen come from New York City, a place oversaturated with indie-music royalty, they have always managed to aggressively assert The their relevance in the music world (see Walkmen single "The Rat" Lisbon for evidence of said aggression). After Fat Possum storming the scene with their debut Everyone Who Pre- tended to Like Me is Gone in 2002, The Walkmen turned a more sullen corner with 2008's You £t Me. On the band's most recent effort Lis- bon, lead singer Hamilton Leithauser's voice rings clear, and we can actually distinguish the lyrics, which are, in traditional Walkmen style, exasper- ated and frustrated. Lisbon suggests a band that has taken a rather large chill pill. Think less "band spitting bile" and more "Grizzly Bear precision." Lisbon is comprised of taut songs that don't overstay their welcome and economi- cal arrangements that are the musical equivalent of "portion control." The opening track "Juveniles" hap- pens to be the best on the entire album. The Walkmen take a chill pill. Leithauser registers better vocal control than ever before as he belts "You're one of us/ Or one of them." The carefree, summery mood is skill- fully crafted, tricking the listener into believing it's effortless. Upon a closer listen, the intricacies unfold them- # selves in the song's closing minute as it all comes together in triumphant, jan- gly crescendo. "Blue as Your Blood" tiptoes in with a restless-sounding guitar line accom- panied by drummer Matt Barrick's barebones tick-tock tapping that fur- thers the uneasy mood of the song. You can practically taste the anxiety in the relentless and static beat. The spare arrangement allows Leithauser's voice to take center stage, which serves as a soothing and melodic counterpart to an otherwise austere arrangement. "Stranded" is a strange waltz complete with slow-building brass arrangements. Poignant as well as melancholy, it wouldn't sound amiss in the ending credits of an indepen- dent film. Resignation and dejected- ness are evident as Leithauser moans "There's broken glass all around my feet / Laid my plans so carelessly / Whats the story / With my old friends?" However enjoyable The Walkmen's refreshing sparseness may be, sparse- ness and directionless do not mix well. "Follow the Leader" is a skippable rambling on guitar that sounds more like the band warming up before a live show than a slick, label-produced track. Far from even attempting to have a melody, even the usually cap- tivating voice of Leithauser is, for the first time, abrasive. Fear not, however, for the song is over very quickly and anti-climactically. Lisbon succeeds as a guitar album without relying on the usual guitar histrionics. The clear Television-like tone and lack of adornment (save for the horns in "Stranded") in produc- tion really lets the guitars stand out. Despite the inherent simplicity, the band fills out the arrangements with minimal instrumentation and no obvi- ous overdubs, which takes a great and rare skill. So often now, bands fall on one of two sides of the spectrum: sloppy and drunk garage-rock with a lazy throwback to-fi recording style, or on the other side, pretentious lush instrumentation that hangs like an over-produced Spector-wannabe haze throughout the whole record. The Walkmen have thankfully managed to avoid both of these unfortunate mis- steps, and shall rise a little higher in the NYC music royalty ranks because of it. T H E SA L Ii M E COURTESY OF FAT FOSSUM There are 12 things in this picture used to attract males age 18-35. Can you find them all? 'Resiet Behold the video-game movie that doesn't completely suck By KAVI SHEKHAR PANDEY Daily Film Editor Holy bazingas. Who would have thought that such an esteemed film critic as yours truly would ever strongly recommend a "Resident Evil" movie? Well, it's hap- pening - "Resident Evil: Afterlife," the fourth film in the franchise, is an abso- lute blast. Yes, the Earth is still round and Ter- relle Pryor still can't read "Green Eggs & Ham," but there now exists a video- Resident Evil:Afterlife At Quality16 and Rave Screen Gems entertaining action sequences. Plus, there's a negative correlation between the number of movies in a franchise and the quality of each successive film. So pseudo-statistically, the fourth "Resident Evil" looked like it was goingto be a blah-fest. Seriously, it's not. But this is still a bit of a precarious review. The handy-dandy star rating and forthcoming gushing really only apply for those familiar with both the "Resi- dent Evil" films and video games. The film doesn't bother with exposition - without watching the previous three films, "After- life" won't make a lick of sense. The opening sequence, in which Jovov- ich (naturally clothed in skin-tight leather) slices through hundreds of dudes in a corpo- rate hideout whilst performing crazy-cool acrobatics, is agreat example of this. It looks superb and offers some tremendous stunts, but would be epically confusing for anyone who hasn't seen the previous film, subtitled "Extinction." Even though "Afterlife" soon changes gears to post-apocalyptic Los Ange- les and becomes a more straightforward "get from point A to point B before zombies mur- der us" tale, viewing the first three films is an advised prerequisite. Those who have played through the video game "Resident Evil 5" would appreciate "Afterlife" the most, as the film is chock-full of winks and nods to fans of the game. Sur- prise characters from the "Resident Evil" canon pop up in this film alongside an intense throwdown with the undead, axe-wielding Executioner and a climactic fight against the annoyingly shifty super-badass Albert Wes- ker (Shawn Roberts, "Edge of Darkness"). And man, do these battles look gorgeous, especially because of the 3-D. As it proudly proclaims, "Afterlife" was shot using the 3-D cameras created by James Cameron. So unlike the post-converted 3-D trash that hit screens earlier this year (see: "Clash of the Titans"), 3-D in this film is used to cre- ate an enveloping experience, much like in "Avatar." Nuclear explosions and slobbering zombie attacks have never felt more up close and personal. The film's story isn't particularly arrest- ing, but it doesn't have to be - the action carries the film. Many people are sure to be frustrated by the unbelievably excessive use of slo-mo, but think of it as the director's attempt to let the audience appreciate how damn beautiful everything looks. "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is a solid enough cinematic experience to make renting the first three and plowing through them worthwhile, just to prepare to watch the newest one in the- aters. You've all seen "Inception" four times by now, so it's OK to turn off your brain and watch zombies get slaughtered for 90 min- utes. In 3-D! game movie that totally does not suck. With stunning action choreography, the intense charisma of Mila Jovovich and incredible use of 3-D, "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is tons and tons of fun. Agreed, part of this love for "Afterlife" definitely stems from the low expectations coming in. The first three movies were all fairly mediocre, watchable only because of an intriguing storyline and handfuls of FREE Two-Day Shipping for One Year on textbooks and millions of other items UNIVERSUM TOP 100 IDEALEMPLOYER 2010 STUDENT SURVEY what you can achieve New challenges. Global insight. Opportunities to grow. An internship at Ernst & Young offers you all this and more. From day one, you'll be part of an inclusive environment that welcomes your point of view and supports whatever you bring to the table. We're looking for future leaders, so this is your chance to show us what you've got. What's next for your future? Text EY Edge to 58592 to learn more about our people, culture and opportunities. &U ERNST& &YOUNG Quality in Everything We Do M. sO N Free two-day shipping available to customers who qualify for ourfree Amazon Student program.