This Ohio-based band strikes a lush, adorable balance between the country-pop of bands such as Jayhawks and Golden Smog and the gloomy, depressing crooning of Tom Waits. Lead singer Matt Berninger manages to transcend leveling the fine background with some reflection and introspection on "Cold Girl Fever" and "Watching You Well." The country hues touched on in "American Mary" are only surpassed by the album's perfect song "Theory of the Crows," a morbid waltz through loneliness and loss. Throughout it all, the band manages not only to exceed their pigeonholed genres but gives a fresh perspective with brilliantly crafted numbers. Starting up where Wilco left off with their Summerteeth album, the group delivers a generous heaping of Americana and alt-country. Brilliant.
I'm seeing The National tonight. Thinking about this made me realize that The National are way too good for what a little amount of people actually listen to them. They're one of the few new bands that's doing something wholesome for rock music. The singer actually sings about stuff that you can relate to. This is a good change from indie rockers who try way to hard to be really obscure and cr
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I'm seeing The National tonight. Thinking about this made me realize that The National are way too good for what a little amount of people actually listen to them. They're one of the few new bands that's doing something wholesome for rock music. The singer actually sings about stuff that you can relate to. This is a good change from indie rockers who try way to hard to be really obscure and cr
More >
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 "The National")
