No Frills Reviews

The National – First Two Pages of Frankenstein

The National are one of my favourite bands, but I’ve never quite known how to describe them. I think you’re supposed to say something like surging, atmospheric, melancholic indie rock; but that sounds wanky to me. They basically make the kind of music that most people would think is a bit depressive. It’s all very introspective, ruminating on relationships and various anxieties, but at their best they turn these into cathartic outbursts of emotion. They‘ve jokingly described themselves as music for sad-dads. I’ve aged into that designation now, but they’ve been a favourite ever since I heard Mr. November when I was about 18.

You could probably reasonably call them one of the biggest indie bands in the world at this point (I mean, they have Taylor Swift on a song FFS), but they still feel like one of those that are ‘your band’. I think that’s because they’ve never really had a hit song, so when you fall for a song it feels like your own personal discovery. And that kind of links to them being the archetypal ‘grower’ band. Often the more you listen, the more you’ll get out of them. Little melodies will worm their way in over time, and multiple listens down the line something will suddenly hit and feel massive. Which is why I made sure to give this a couple weeks of listens before reviewing.

Saying all this, I haven’t really liked one of their albums since 2010’s High Violet. Their albums in that time certainly haven’t been bad – they don’t really do less than solid – but they just haven’t had anything that quite gets you like their best work does. And the four singles released in the run-up really didn’t get me very excited for this. But then again, The National have never really been a singles band. Despite having great songs, those songs tend to come to life within the context of a National album.

And that was one of the first things I found here as Eucalyptus, which sort of washed over me as a single, suddenly sounded like them at close to their best following on from opener Once Upon A Poolside, which is like a baseline National song. And New Order T-Shirt, which initially felt like it got lost in its hyper-specific references, is a sweet slice of romantic nostalgia, which makes more sense each time you listen. However, I haven’t found the same with the other singles. Tropic Morning News and Your Mind Is Not Your Friend are fine, but both run a bit too long without delivering any additional emotional payoff.

Speaking of too long, I’ll get in my go-to take for most album reviews and say that it’s too long. Any album going 47 minutes is probably going to be too long, although The National have pulled it off before. But their best albums were provided a balance and their peak moments of catharsis by an occasional rocker or just a brief wild-eyed screaming section. This is just a bit too one-note to run this length; encapsulated on This Isn’t Helping which ends up plodding to its conclusion with the music failing to uplift it to anything more meaningful.

However there are a couple of moments where that does happen. Both Alien and Grease In Your Hair sound like classic National songs; difficult to interpret but the hook of the chorus makes them sound absolutely vital (whatever he’s talking about). Send For Me is another highlight and is about as straightforward as Matt Berninger’s songwriting gets (the message is basically I’ll Be There For You). The Taylor Swift featuring The Alcott feels like it’s going to be an epic from the opening piano riff, but doesn’t quite deliver on the promise, it’s just good.

For existing fans, I’d say it’s another solid album, which I can’t imagine will end up being one of your favourites. But this may well have had more impact if If didn’t already know The National had existed for 20+ years. So for any new listeners, it wouldn’t be the one I’d necessarily recommend, but give it a try nonetheless because they could well end up becoming your favourite band. It might just depend how much time you want to put in.