Emerging alongside the Strokes in New York's back-to-basics rock revival in the early '00s, the Walkmen always seemed more emotional than their cool next-wave peers, and that impression is cemented by this brooding yet uplifting set. A benefit for a local cancer center, in honor of a friend battling leukemia, the album radiates boozy sentimentality and tunefulness — perhaps a byproduct of the band's startlingly faithful 2006 remake of the John Lennon/Harry Nilsson collaboration, Pussy Cats. The songwriting has never been stronger or more eclectic. The lovesick "I Lost You" is a spare, cha-cha-cha-flavored slow jam with singer Hamilton Leithauser finally taking full ownership of his Dylan affectations. Ditto "In the New Year," a waltz that may be the band's finest song — bare-knuckle rhythm guitar swept up in fuzzy organ chords that dazzle like a mirror ball seen after too much cheap champagne. "I'm still living at the old address," the singer croons, insisting that, in spite of having been dealt a lousy hand, "it's gonna be a good year." You truly want to believe him.