So having listened to High Violet, these are my favorite tracks and ones I’d recommend to anyone wanting to check this band out:
(in random order)
Lemonworld
Runaway
Sorrow
Conversation 16 (great line: “Had my head in the oven so you’d know where I’ll be”…and I love belting out, “'Cause III-II-IIIIII’m eeevil” in the car)
Anyone’s Ghost
Afraid of Everyone
Bloodbuzz Ohio
The lyrics sometimes veer too much into stream-of-consciousness territory for my liking (one of my pet peeves in modern music), but when they’re on, they’ve got a neat vibe that reminds me of “The Great Gatsby” for some reason. Also, apparently “Runaway” used to be called “Karamazov” in honor of the band’s favorite Dostoevsky novel, which…I don’t know what to make of. I don’t see any immediate connection between the lyrics and the story, but it’s food for thought.
Just got into these guys thanks to NPR’s list. I adore “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”. I think the lead singer sound like that guy who had the humming song in the 90’s.
Bumping because, like the OP, I’ve been listening to them non-stop. The National,has a remarkable ability to create musical and lyrical earworms, and it’s sometimes impossible not to sing along.
Bonus points for the drumming, which does way more than just provide tempo and fills.
Anybody else jumped aboard the bandwagon since the OP?
Yeah, they’re pretty awesome. I discovered them in 2009 at the All Points West music festival in Jersey City.
I like that they are sort of big enough that they appear on soundtracks to indie-films, TV shows and whatnot. And yet they aren’t a band that everyone’s like OMG The National! and you don’t see them on every TV commercial like Vampire Weekend.
They were also the band that sang “The Rains Of Castomere” AKA “The Lanister Song” during the closing credits of an episode of Game of Thrones.
So happy to have found this thread, since I just started my obsession with The National. A few years ago I heard the single “Terrible Love” on the radio and liked it, but wasn’t inspired to actually buy an album until I heard “Don’t Swallow the Cap” from their latest album. Now I am full-on obsessed and slowly working my way backwards through their albums.
Trouble Will Find Me definitely seems darker and broodier than some of their previous albums, but I absolutely love it. “Pink Rabbits” is my favorite song.
They are playing at Red Rocks next month. I can’t go, and it’s practically killing me. Has anyone seen them on this tour yet?
They’re great. Love the lead singer’s baritone voice. “Bloodbuzz, Ohio” is my favorite song of theirs (and I think it’s their most popular song in general.) We just got to see them at Lollapalooza here a couple of weeks ago and they were really great live.
Favorite. Their new album was very immediate to me and I listened straight through on repeat several times. I would say that about their last 4 albums at least.
Don’t know about Matt “being a dick”- his live performance 3 years ago was what got me into them. Only saw them because the show we were going to was sold out and it was still possible to get tickets at the window after their show started. Have seen them at 2 concerts plus a festival. This year their show at the same venue sold out. Typically Matt drinks a bottle of wine during the show and walks out on the crowd. I also like that he and I possess a similar vocal range and he doesn’t read music or play any instruments. The two sets of twins are great musicians and the one guitarist is a great writer. Matt is personable and funny in a relatable way and his lyrics are a lot better than some of the other middle aged rock guys who get a lot of love in indie rock circles.
I don’t know that I’d really call much of their work anything but “dark and broody”. Even “Mr November”, one of their more upbeat songs has a sort of melancholy irony to it (sorry Jeter).
That’s my favorite song right now as well - it has everything they do well going for it, including their remarkable ability to create semi-nonsensical lyrics you sing in your head (or aloud) even when you’re not listening to the album. Jumping to a different album, how can anyone not be earwormed by “I had a secret meeting in the basement of my brain/It went the dull and wicked ordinary way” or “I was afraid I’d eat your brains/'Cause I’m evil”?
As for the new-ish album, I still am enjoying the 3 before it so much that I’m not ready to buy it yet. Soon though!
Boxer is my fav. It really captured the essence of a period of time in my life so well and is etched in that time in my life in that intertwined way that the senses combine so seemingly mysteriously to form memories.
Pretty much my favorite band, at least of those currently releasing music.
I don’t know a ton about music, but I love their sound. On first listen it sounds pretty basic to me, but turn it up a bit and there’s all this interesting stuff going on sonically. Again, I don’t know terms or much of any details of musicianship, but I appreciate what they are doing.
A lot of times, it’s lyrics that make me really get into a certain artist. I enjoy lots of bands, but to push me into “fan-of-the-artist” instead of just “liking them” it takes lyrics. Interesting lyrics, where the lyricist puts things in novel ways, expresses thought in a way that makes sense but isn’t trite, whatever. They have this lyric ability in spades.
I love Alligator, Boxer, and the new one Trouble Will Find Me the best. Yes, I skipped High Violet. Good album, just doesn’t hit me the same way.