The National - Trouble Will Find Me

The National is not a band that has matured. It's a band that is mature. And a quality often associated with boring has actually never sounded more vibrant and alive.  The slow burn of Matt Berninger's baritone, the tension he is able to convey with one-liners that sting and then stick, could easily be overlooked. But when you pay attention, the gravity of these stories – overlaid with expansive, all-encompassing guitars, ever-present percussion and well-thought out melodies – knocks you down like a bottle of bourbon. Highlights include the gradual build of “Humiliation,” a five-minute song that ends with a minute-long tangent so beautiful, so different from how it began, that it’s hard to imagine how The National laced it all together so neatly. The gentle freak-out of “Sea of Love” is a reminder that calculated refinement is not a curse, but a blessing. 

I wrote this for LEO Weekly.

The National - High Violet

Just when music lovers thought that the National had already achieved peak glory with 2007’s Boxer, a shadowy but obliquely intense collection of songs, the quintet of Cincinnati natives shatters all conventions. On their latest fare – to put it simply – they strive to define a generation, and in many cases, they succeed. High Violet rumbles from its own belly, the songs exploding from within themselves, the lyrics detailing the impossibilities of everyday life in a way that’s simultaneously puzzling and universal. Like the National’s other albums, High Violet is a grower. After a few listens, the way Matt Berninger’s deep baritone rises and falls ever so subtly over Aaron and Bryce Dessner’s melding, shimmering guitar lines creates a certain hypnosis. Punctured by Bryan Devendorf’s alternating time signatures and his brother Scott’s pounding bass, these songs kick to life. “Sorrow found me when I was young/Sorrow waited, sorrow won,” Berninger mumbles in a hushed tone on the album’s second track, “Sorrow.” It’s one of those moments that hint at the emotional journey High Violet shares with listeners. “England” is the kind of sprawling sonic landscape, swathed in strings and horns, that will inevitably draw comparisons to U2. The National doesn’t reach perfection here, but they get so close it’s scary. We’re stuck wondering – is this their Joshua Tree?

WAIT, pause.

The National.

High Violet.

On my computer, legally.

Soon to be on my iPod, quickly.

Sure to be in my ears, indefinitely.

Is this day really here?



I'll report back early next week on my findings. I'm going to DC this weekend, the land of dreams and NPR. The city where I hope to spend a good chunk of my life. (subliminal messages: npr, please hire me. npr, please hire me.) The city where I think the National will sound the best. Just because. It's DC. Does stuff really get any better than the National and the District of Columbia in one weekend?

I thought not.

Teach Me Your Ways

Yeah, a private guitar lesson with Aaron Dessner of The National sounds like a pretty rad idea.

Q TV also has lessons with Vampire Weekend, Tegan & Sara, and Sondre Lerche here. But Dessner's definitely the coolest.