The National

Why are they called The National? It's always rubbed me the wrong way.

National Front was taken haha

tfw u realize you've mixed up The National with TV on the Radio for 15 years

Oh I do think this is exactly what happened, it looks like both these bands came out around the same time and were from New York and made a bunch of indie-ish records I never heard, I did not exactly think they were the same band but maybe I thought one was a side project or offshoot of the other.

Amazon has an incorrect tracklist for the Belle & Sebastian album out Friday. I thought it was somebody's parody titles but googling tells me this is for the new album by The National (based on them playing two of these songs live). Have they announced a new album yet or should I start a new-album detective agency?

1 Once Upon A Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
2 Eucalyptus
3 New Order T-Shirt
4 This Isn't Helping (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
5 Tropic Morning News
6 Alien
7 The Alcott (With Taylor Swift)
8 Grease In Your Hair
9 Ice Machines
10 Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (feat. Phoebe Bridgers)
11 Send For Me

Obviously Belle & Sebastian and the National have merged into one group, Belle & Sebastional.

The Boy With The Alligator Strap

looking forward to future dad rock staple, New Order T-Shirt

anyway, they are playing bottlerock in napa in May so I assume they have a new album on the way and that tracklist looks likely. glad to see Phoebe all over it.

glad that "weird goodbyes" apparently isn't on it because it wasn't very good

Phoebe seems to be everywhere.

There might still be other songs on the album (even "Weird Goodbyes"?). Somebody pointed out, given the way this leaked, that the 11 track limit might match the number of tracks on the B&S album this appeared under by mistake, not the full number on The National album.

1 Once Upon A Poolside (feat. Sufjan Stevens)
2 Eucalyptus
3 New Order T-Shirt

wtf

“once upon a poolside” has got to be the most national song title of all time

If you'd said "By the Poolside I Sat and Wept," maybe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdU0qwZKLfU

leaked tracklist was accurate. album is 47 minutes long (thank god) (even though i liked the last one's sprawl)

not as good as their past two lead singles but it's decent

why do you feat. Phoebe Bridgers but With Taylor Swift?

Maybe she co-wrote the song with them, and the others are just featured on songs that the band wrote?

yeah possible

https://shop.americanmary.com/products/new-order-t-shirt

this is so stupid i have to get it

that’s great, definitely buying for my partner

love the t-shirt

really wish I loved the song but it's so nothingy

can't hate, it's just got no melody, nothing to latch onto

Album out Friday. NME (lol) has said it's their best in a decade and given it five stars.

Have really liked the two more recent songs they've released from it though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSywJt3VlUM

Of all the bands I'd totally expect to just keep putting out good albums it's this one.

A nice note is that Matt sliding the SM7 down on the mic stand at the end of the video is just faintly, barely audible enough to confirm that the video you're watching is a factual document of the final vocal performance

Their last one was the best to my ears; having female harmonists and co-vocalists leavened the preppy male angst.

this is probably their most mellow, middle-of-the-road, unexciting album yet

which is a shame after the last two were a little more interesting and had some of their strongest material (there's definitely a case for i am easy to find as their best)

Yeah. Shame that all the guest vocalists are strictly on backing duties, especially after the last album. At least Taylor gets a few lines to sing on her own I suppose unlike Phoebe.

taylor's appearance is prominent enough but it's weird that the others get a feature credit for some backing vocals, especially compared to the last album where more prominent guest vocalists didn't

ppl describing the new national album as “mor” gets me excited about it, actually

it just feels like they're spinning their wheels here, there's nothing that comes close to "you had your soul with you" or "the system only dreams in total darkness" or anything

The System Dreams in MOR

Not every fan of the national is a divorced guy who owns an npr t shirt but every divorced guy who owns an npr t shirt is a fan of the national

— eve6 (@Eve6) April 28, 2023

I am so dead-center in the National’s supposed demographic (but married and no NPR t-shirt but I listen the shit out of NPR) but I just can’t get with the National. A little too close to home maybe.

Tuned out for no partic reason after Boxer, which I loved. Thinking of dipping back in but no sure where to start

trouble will find me!

yeah that's the only really good post boxer album for me

go backwards imo, alligator as good as boxer, sometimes better

two first have some jams

I read the New Yorker profile, then I read a Washington Post profile, and clearly they are in the promo zone, because the overlap was remarkable.

I tried a pink rabbit thanks to The National.

yeah that's the only really good post boxer album for me

― corrs unplugged, sobota, 29 kwietnia 2023 16:33 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

go backwards imo, alligator as good as boxer, sometimes better

two first have some jams

― corrs unplugged, sobota, 29 kwietnia 2023 16:34 (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I think the run from Alligator to High Violet is pretty stellar. Trouble Will Find Me is good, too, but could maybe use a trim?

I thought the last one, I Am Easy To Find was excellent.

As Alfred mentions, the guest vocalists give a fresh spin to their sound.

sleep well beast also has a crackling second side. only real dud on that album is “turtleneck” which should've been relegated to a lame resistance comp called rock against trump

Every "Automatic for the People" has its "Ignoreland."

guys this is a good record

i bet! the subtler they are the better. will be listening finally tomorrow

the subleties being less interesting this time than the last two albums are a big part of the problem too

listen… shhh

i have this very firm memory when i was a college dj and i went to a show The National headlined. the opener was Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and a good 40% of the room left after they played. at the time i laughed but now i keep thinking they may have been right.

I signed up to do this but will never get around to it. I will vote if you do it.

at the time i laughed but now i keep thinking they may have been right.

Matt Berninger lyric.

here's a top 12

you had your soul with you
the system only dreams in total darkness
i'll still destroy you
guilty party
dark side of the gym
about today
all the wine
wasp nest
secret meeting
fake empire
empire line
so far so fast

a bit hard to care beyond that though - they're just not that good, frustratingly middle of the road, they rarely lean into their most interesting ideas

I made the mistake of listening "Tropic Morning News" last Saturday and I can't get the damn chorus out of my head. Help!

i haven't spent much time with the last two at all. first two pages was very underwhelming and laugh track was more solid than i expected but didn't have anything to make me want to come back to it

i wish they could write songs as good as "you had your soul with you" consistently. sleep well beast is probably their best album but it could really do with a few tracks cut from it. cherry tree is too often overlooked as a release although it doesn't have the extended "about today" which makes the song

i think what they're generally missing is a bit of jaggedness so when they throw that in on "you had your soul with you" and "the system only dreams of total darkness" everything comes together wonderfully

Yes, I did enjoy early in their career when he'd slip into a bit of mania, but some of their more subdued, prettier tracks contain jaggedness in their lyrics, e.g., "Daughters of the Soho Riots," "Slow Show."

I've always been an Alligator/Boxer guy but recently revisited High Violet and Trouble Will Find Me and found both to be better than I'd remembered. There are moments on those records where each band member's gifts are on full display but come together and meld into something on another level from their earlier work. Devedorf's unique drumming in particular is an absolute force propelling High Violet.

trouble will find me is their boxer of the nü-era

it's still their best

for me it's alligator or boxer, I'd probably take sad songs over trouble will find me but
trouble will find me >>> high violet

"I was afraid, I'd eat your brains/ cause I'm evil"

loved seeing the thread bumped with this lyric, "conversation 16" is probably my favorite national song

Counterpoint: they haven't recorded bad or mediocre albums.