After climbing out from the wreckage of Jonathan Fire*eater for two albums of stirring, U2-esque rock, the Walkmen have begun to sound like a group remembering there's something valuable in ruined fragments. The New York band's last two albums have been messy, occasionally frustrating works, but they've also shown a deep appreciation for the greats that came before. The voice of frontman Hamilton Leithauser took on the nasal whine of Bob Dylan on the New York band's last album of original material, 2006's A Hundred Miles Off, while Pussy Cats later that year was a true-to-the-original cover of Harry Nilsson's 1974 album with John Lennon. So it's a logical step for Leithauser & co. to revisit the catalog of another songwriting legend, Leonard Cohen, as they do in their new Daytrotter session.

One of the Walkmen's four Cohen covers is not like the others. While "The Old Revolution", "Lady Midnight", and "Tonight Will Be Fine" all appeared on Cohen's 1969 Songs From a Room, "Passing Through" is a rarity from 1973 live album Live Songs; it was also a cover even when Cohen did it, a re-arrangement of a folk standard originally composed by Dick Blakeslee. Like the Walkmen's past covers, their "Passing Through" is a mostly faithful rendition, Leithauser impressively adopting Cohen's careful baritone while imbuing it with a bit of his own throaty rasp. The accompaniment is an electric guitar with alternating bass notes, joined by simple bass guitar and drums, with the band singing along on the choruses. As for the song itself, it begins some 2,000 years ago last Friday-- at Calvary for the Crucifixion-- and moves through biblical and American legends for an unflinching look at mankind's best hopes, the history that has again and again doomed them, and the temporariness of the whole shebang anyway. Heavy stuff for a Monday, but it's an effective rendition of a powerful old folk song.

MP3/Stream:> The Walkmen: "Passing Through" (Daytrotter Session)
[original track from Live Songs; out now on Sony]