The Walkmen, in all truth, are misrepresented by the “The” that precedes their name: They’re too atmospheric and panoramic to be confined to a garage even if their production aesthetics are purposely ragged. When I reviewed their debut album “Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone” a few months ago, I was blown away by Hamilton Leithauser’s soaring oh-no-it’s-Bono vocals and the band’s blend of pianos, guitars and organs. I redirected all my friends to the Saturn commercial that featured the delicately cynical “We’ve Been Had.”

To rewind a little, The Walkmen were formed circa 2000 from the wreckage of Jonathan Fire*Eater and The Recoys and have accumulated considerable critical buzz since. And yes, they’re from New York. I talked recently to lead vocalist Hamilton Leithauser on the phone on the subject of how The Walkmen got together, their experiences in their own studio, their influences, what to expect from the next album and other randomness.

Intermission: So, on “We’ve Been Had” you claim that you don’t like “dumb haircuts from 1960.” What type of haircut do you have and what do you recommend for our readers?

Hamilton Leithauser: [laughs] I’ve never heard such a question before. My hair’s kind of shaggy, I need a haircut.

INT: The band is from New York — did you grow up there?

HL: No, I grew up in DC, everyone in the band did.

INT: There’s generally a lot of talk about the New York scene — do you think people will look back 10 years from now and talk about New York’s garage rock movement of 2002?

HL: I’m not sure. I guess people really like bands like The Strokes and Interpol now. I don’t know if people are going to see it as a movement. The music’s really different between all the bands . . . I think maybe people will like the bands but I don’t think it’s really going to stick as a rock movement.

INT: How did you guys get together?

HL: The Recoys were sort of breaking up because people were really losing interest, and Jonathan Fire*Eater had already broken up. They were looking for someone to play with, and The Recoys were really dying. I had wanted to play with the J F*E guys, and we had similar musical tastes, so I actually just called them and asked them if they wanted to play.

INT: What are your musical tastes? Who are your major influences?

HL: Over the years, the biggest ones have been Jonathan Richman, Modern Lovers, I could go on forever . . . The Cramps were always an influence on us. Randy Newman, The Beach Boys; we liked Joy Division, sort of. I mean, I don’t know, there are millions of bands that we like. Those are big heavy-hitters.

INT: Any contemporary rock bands that you really admire and respect?

HL: I like The Scene Creamers (from DC) a lot.

INT: Any other contemporary rock bands?

HL: To tell you the truth? No.

INT: That’s harsh, man.

HL: Just really haven’t found anyone I like that much . . . I wish there were more. I like The Scene Creamers, I like the Royal Trucks a lot, but they broke up.

INT: Did you guys try out any other names before you got to The Walkmen?

HL: Yeah, it was just like part of a list. We were just sitting down, we had to think of a name for some reason, I forget why, and the other names were really awesome — they were The Sheeps, The Motorboats, The Robots, The Murderers — but that was taken. Those are the big ones I remember. I liked The Sheeps the most — with the ‘s’ at the end.

INT: Do you have any expectations of when you’re going to “break”? How’re the album sales?

HL: Record sales are much more than we ever expected them to be, so we’re all really happy with the way it’s going.

INT: “We’ve Been Had” is featured on the Saturn ad. How’d you land that?

HL: They just sent us an e-mail that had an amount of money and a finished version of the commercial. We’d never heard . . . they just went ahead and made it. And then we said, “go right ahead.”

INT: How would you respond to people who will see this as a sign of you guys selling out and going commercial?

HL: Well, if they had a reasonable argument I’d listen to them. I mean, I think it’s a tacky thing to do — I don’t think it’s anything to be really proud of, but we don’t have any record label backing us; we don’t have any source of income at all besides our shows, so this commercial is what’s going to let us record this next record. I don’t know, if somebody had something beyond a vague notion — if they had a reasonable argument, I’d listen to them but I never have heard anything like that.

INT: So, talking about the next album, how’s that coming. When can we expect it?

HL: It is coming along really well now . . . we had about a seven- or eight-month dry spell where we couldn’t write songs, and it was really looking bleak, but now it seems like we’re at the end of that. We’re going into the studio on April 7, and we’re going to record.

INT: And this studio would be your own studio, where the first album was recorded?

HL: Actually, this time we’re going to try — just ’cause all we ever do is spend time in our studio, and we’re really sick of that room — doing stuff in another studio and see if it works out.

INT: Is there any big difference we can expect in the sound of the next record? Are you guys making any conscious shifts?

HL: It wasn’t anything conscious, but I think it will sound different. I think that everyone says we have a very different live sound and recorded sound. I think for this record we’re going to go for the live sound.

INT: How does your songwriting process work?

HL: Very collaborative. Usually Paul will bring in a small musical idea and we try to get everyone playing it, and it’s sounding good to them — if it does, which it hardly ever does, but if it does, then I take it home and I try to write the words and the melody.

INT: You’ve been compared to U2 quite a bit. What do you think of that comparison — do you take it as a compliment?

HL: I guess I take it as a compliment. I’m not like the biggest U2 fan in the world but they have good stuff, so it’s fine. It’s weird how much people say it, but it doesn’t bother me.

INT: Do you read a lot of the reviews that are written about you guys?

HL: I used to read like all of them, and now I don’t really, ’cause, I don’t . . . it sort of drives you crazy after a while. I just don’t like how you’re misquoted or misrepresented or something.

INT: Is there anything in particular that annoys you?

HL: I really didn’t like . . . when we were starting off, and people hadn’t really heard us or seen us but they would always say that we were like these super-well dressed, like hipster guys wearing skinny ties, and we were all like neat and had our little package together — it’s just so not us. I guess we don’t get that anymore now because I guess people have seen us or heard our music or something, but it’s so irritating when they write about you like they know who you are, but they’ve never heard you or seen you.

INT: What book have you been reading recently?

HL: Currently reading “Swan’s Lake” by Proust — it’s like a bear, I don’t know why I’m reading it. It’s dense; it’s like reading a brick. It’s just a big, intense book. I don’t know-it’s just hard to read.

INT: Any cool hobbies?

HL: I play chess a lot.