Photo by Tom Spray

In an interview with The Washington Post, Peter Bauer said that after some shows next week, the Walkmen have no plans to continue. Though they note that they aren't "officially breaking up," Bauer said, “We have no future plans whatsoever. I’d call it a pretty extreme hiatus." Later, he added, “It’s been almost 14 years now. I think that’s enough, you know?”

Their final two shows for the foreseeable future are tomorrow at Union Market in Washington, DC and December 4 at Philadelphia's Union Transfer.

The future of the band, both as a recording and touring entity, is uncertain:

“We really just have no idea. I don’t think any of us wanted to write another Walkmen record. Maybe that will change down the line, maybe it won’t, maybe we’ll play shows. I think it’s weird to make a hubbub about something if there’s nothing to really make a hubbub about. At the same time, I don’t think we’ve been a gang properly for a long time, so there’s not much to break up, I guess.”

Three members of the band are currently working on solo LPs: Hamilton Leithauser (whose album is due in 2014 and features members of the Shins, Fleet Foxes, and Vampire Weekend), Walter Martin, and Bauer (Liberation!, which will be released under the name Peter Matthew Bauer). Bauer and Leithauser's records both feature other members of the Walkmen.

Bauer said they all still get along, but notes that the band dynamic has changed in recent years:

“When we play shows it’s a really fun time seeing old friends. It’s not the archetypal rock band where everyone lives in an apartment. We all live in different cities and we call each other occasionally. It’s like going to Thanksgiving.” “I think it’s cool that we’re all still pals and all. It’s nice to be removed from [being a band] and to be friends, or something like that, and to see what happens from there.”

The band's last album Heaven came out in 2012. Watch them perform that album's title track on Pitchfork.tv's "+1":