16. The Walkmen
You & Me

There was a time, in the not so distant musical past, when every guitar band hailing from New York was contractually obliged to wear a suit jacket, battered jeans and converse. The music they made was of no real consequence. The Walkmen, thankfully, never cared for fashion and have seemingly never cared for chart success either. You & Me, their fourth album, is littered with wonky, brilliantly skewed tales of love and loss, careening guitars clashing with drunken keyboard riffs (‘In The New Year’ a perfect example). A brilliant mess in other words.

Key track: 'In The New Year'