photo credit: Nicholas Burnham
It would have been difficult -- nay, impossible -- for a
blog-lurking fan of indie rock to have traversed 2007 without
reading about how wonderful Boxer, the latest record from
The
National, is. When they named it the 17th best record of the year, one wordsmith
over at Pitchfork likened the album's melancholy sound to "the
all-encompassing dread of 21st century American life." Which is
supposed to mean "it's good," and it is.
But it's too easy to listen to a great record because someone
tells you to, even to enjoy it, and never dig deeper into an
artist's catalog. Especially in the case of The National, to assume
they only got good when all the bloggers started to say they were
good would be a colossally regrettable oversight. There's just so
much more introspection in deep baritone, so much more driving
guitar accentuated by carefully arranged keys and strings, so much
more low-light, high-BAC, best-listened-to-alone music to be
found.
Lucky for you, dear reader, Amie Street is in a position to save
you from yourself, to help you to sidestep such negligent laxity.
The first three releases from The National --
,
, and
-- are available to be
added directly to your personal musical pantheon.
These are really records best digested all at once, but in the
spirit of a toe-dip before a dive, here's an incomplete list of
must-haves, should-haves, and
omigod-i-can't-believe-you-don't-haves:
Theory of the Crows
(
) - If
there's a better song that wasn't written by Springsteen about
working for a living, I can't think of it. There's a good bit of
chatter about this one in The National's edition of
Stereogum's Quit Your Day Job series.
All the Wine
(
) -
Poppier than most of the rest, this begins with the lofty claim
"I'm a perfect piece of ass." I'm
pretty sure Matt
Berninger didn't mean that literally, but hey, maybe he did.
Regardless, you'll find yourself playing this two or three times in
a row.
Murder Me Rachael
(
) - I
know a guy that saw The National one time in a little club and they
blew him away so he bought their CD and then complained to me that
it didn't rock as hard as they did live. It's a shame he didn't buy
the CD with this song on it.
Available
(
) -
Really, a shame. Because this one is on the same record, and it
also rocks hard.
American Mary
(
) -
Rumor has it that when they were forming, they toyed with the idea
of naming the band American Mary, instead of The National. In fact,
the band's official website is
americanmary.com.
Wasp Nest
(
) -
Good bands use the first track on a record to set a tone, and the
tone The National set with this, the first track on their last
self-released album, was that they were ready for the big time.
Listen to this and tell me there isn't a trainwreck of a girl that
you've known whose skinny throat, despite it all, you wouldn't have
kissed if you weren't so damned careful all the time. This song
takes 3:21 and 2 verses to accomplish what some movies try and fail
to accomplish in 2 hours.
Cold Girl Fever
(
) -
File this one under
Things to Never Say to a Girl: "What
are you for, now that I have hardcore?"
Fashion Coat
(
) - "I
die fast in this city; outside I die slow." If you don't like lines
like that, then I guess we just can't be friends.
29 Years
(
) -
"You know I dreamed about you for 29 years before I saw you / You
know I dreamed about you, I missed you for 29 years." One of the
most memorable moments on the
Boxer record is a reprise of
this song at the end of "Slow Show." The original isn't really
noteworthy otherwise, but it's a cool bit of trivia to impress your
Johnny-come-lately friends.
That ought to be enough to get you started. Or rather, it should
be enough to ensure that you can't stop.
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Featured Tracks:
Mistaken For Strangers
Slow Show
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Featured Tracks:
Abel
Hips Again
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Featured Tracks:
Slipping Husband
Available
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Featured Tracks:
Cherry Tree
About Today
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Featured Tracks:
Son
Bitters & Absolut
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February 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
alligator is a sweet album too!