You might want to take the viral chatter tagging the new songs by the D.C.-born rockers the Walkmen as “rootsy” with a large grain of salt. A fan video of “Your Southern Heart,” which the band played at the Santa Barbara Bowl, is posted on the Web and has spurred the Americana format comparisons. But keyboardist-guitarist Pete Bauer said that the song played and sung by frontman Hamilton Leithauser is just one rendition — and the song’s title might change, too.

“We called it that because we just needed a name,” he said with a laugh from the band’s tour bus as it made its way across the country for a series of concerts with the Fleet Foxes. “It was really just Hamilton playing. With the new songs, we’re incorporating a full sound. I’m playing a lot of guitar instead of organ, which I personally enjoy a lot. It’s more rock ‘n’ roll.”