I got home today feeling very somber. It was late afternoon and I was alone in the house. The lights were off and I felt like leaving them that way. I was in the kind of mood where I just wanted to rock back and forth on an armchair listening to music. I found myself wishing I had something excessively Baroque to put on. I wanted to feel alienated and poetic. I wanted to enjoy being morose. Coincidentally, there’s a band that fulfills that yearning quite sublimely. They are called The National.
Now just because I think that their tone is most suited to solitary loneliness does not mean that their music is not appropriate for a variety of moods and circumstances. I always want to be listening to The National. In the morning they sound beautiful. On Sunday afternoons they make the whole day seem worthwhile. Their sound fills up that expansive emptiness that makes you wonder why you aren’t filled with a cacophony of gloom. Late at night they fill the smallest crevices with a grand and meaningful melodic scene. The National isn’t party music. It’s better. It’s rainy day music.
Allow me to be briefly biographical. The National is a Brooklyn based band formed in 1999. They released their first two albums on their own record label. These were entitled The National (2001) and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003). Then, in 2005 they joined Beggars Banquet Records and released two more albums. The first being Alligator (2005) which provided the band with increased exposure. And the latter being Boxer (2007) which was met with widespread critical acclaim. On a related note, The National is best listened to in reverse chronological order.
Most recently The National has toured with R.E.M. and Modest Mouse. I managed to see The National during that tour and (pardon the cliche) I was blown away. They seem to be playing most of Boxer with a smattering of songs from Alligator (namely Mr. November which is one of their most exciting songs- and it is indeed supremely exciting in reality). The National is a quite capable live band and there is certainly no discrepancy in terms of quality in any sense of the word (as is the case with many bands who aren’t rhythmically and sonically enraged).
Returning to the realm of subjectivity, I know we all get sick of conventional harmony, some faster than others. But it is my contention that when conventional harmony is done at the peak of excellence, the result is often the most satisfying sonic experience to be had. The National is such a band. Their sound can most simply be described with the adjective ‘grand’. The singer Matt Berninger has a remarkable deep baritone and writes lyrics which are deceptively unconventional, the drumming is reminiscent of a marching band turned dense and sundry and the other musical parts usually consist of simple but seemly violin, piano, horns and guitar.
In combination, the result is the kind of music that will make me smile (in both the joyous and despondent variety- depending on the circumstance) wherever I am. The National is a crucial supplement to life.