We indie folk probably would be more into emo if we were younger. The sweeping, theatrical music with its do-or-die seriousness, the bloated song titles, the over-the-top videos ... they all speak to that high school urgency where everything is the most important thing ever.
Calling The National grown-up emo may give you the wrong impression if you haven't heard them before. But spend some time with the band's amazing last record, "Alligator," or its criminally overlooked "Cherry Tree" EP, and you'll see what I mean. The music is still deathly serious, but all the theatrics are stripped away, replaced by the wisdom that comes from struggling for success but finding failure more often and deciding to aim for the middle ground.
It makes for some of the most raw, authentic, crushingly beautiful music in the indie world right now.
The National have been good to San Diego, stopping back in October at the Casbah. They're coming back around this summer in support of their upcoming album, "The Boxer."
Album is out May 22.
The show is June 25.
The MP3s below are highly, highly recommended
The National — Abel (MP3)
The National — The Geese of Beverly Road (MP3)
1 comment:
Fucking phenomenal band. How "Alligator" only sold about three and a half copies is still one of the world's great conundrums, up there with the immense staying-power of Cheez-Whiz and the fact that no one came up with those cool "shoes with the wheel on the bottom" when I was a kid.
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