The National: Sunshine on My B&Ck

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Had a few Spotify plays over the past week, but last night the wife and I finally got to sit down with the vinyl and a bottle of red.

For starters, this sounds gorgeous on wax. Nobody Else Will Be There sets such a mood, from the skittering electronics to the mournful piano and especially to Matt's vocals just enveloping the room. Fantastic transition to Day I Die as previously said. Love the way that his vocals in System... come forward in the mix at the "I can't explain it..." part.

But overall I might prefer the second half to the first. There's not a dud moment, whereas I could do without the audio recording at the end of Walk it Back and most of Born to Beg. Will be interesting to see how Turtleneck holds up. The climax of I'll Still Destroy You is a beast that stopped us mid sentence. Dark Side of the Gym is as beautiful as Carin at the Liquor Store is devestating. And then you've got Empire Line, Guilty Party and the title track gaining more resonance with each listen.

Boxer is an all timer for me, so it's great to have a return to that atmospheric, baroque sound with some new elements pushing it forward. I think Phils and iYup called it with regards to Trouble Will Find Me, some of the ballads just drag on and bring down the album slightly. Cutting Fireproof, Heavenfaced and Slipped would result in a very strong 10 track record imo. And High Violet just feels like it's missing something, despite most of the tracks being great. It can come off too dreary at times, as opposed to a wonderful gloom.

And maybe it was the wine, but I went onto Amazon and nabbed a vinyl copy of The Bomb. Rereading some of the old comments here of the cd vs vinyl I'm looking forward to CoBL and AMaaW providing revelatory experiences.
 
The National: Sunshine on My B&Ck

Cutting Fireproof, Heavenfaced and Slipped would result in a very strong 10 track record imo.


Oh man, never cut Slipped. "Fun" story about that song: I spent the Spring falling in love with an incredible woman, but one with whom I had some major differences which the two of us worried would be unbridgeable. We eventually indeed decided that we needed to end the relationship due to those differences, on the second day of summer, in Dallas, right after she had just moved up from Austin to Dallas. A certain line from Slipped gets me every time:

"It'll be summer in Dallas before you realize that I'll never be anything you ever want me to be."

I spent the whole Spring hoping, praying that that wouldn't come true, and then it did. Haunting lyric to me. I love that song.
 
Nobody Else Will Be There is becoming one of my favorite National songs. I love how broken Matt's voice sounds in the opening verse.
 
Oh man, never cut Slipped. "Fun" story about that song: I spent the Spring falling in love with an incredible woman, but one with whom I had some major differences which the two of us worried would be unbridgeable. We eventually indeed decided that we needed to end the relationship due to those differences, on the second day of summer, in Dallas, right after she had just moved up from Austin to Dallas. A certain line from Slipped gets me every time:

"It'll be summer in Dallas before you realize that I'll never be anything you ever want me to be."

I spent the whole Spring hoping, praying that that wouldn't come true, and then it did. Haunting lyric to me. I love that song.

Yeah Slipped is a strong lyrical song. I'm partial to "I can't blame you for losing your mind for a little while - so did I."

Nobody Else Will Be There is becoming one of my favorite National songs. I love how broken Matt's voice sounds in the opening verse.

Yes and yes.
 
Slipped has such a nice melody. I think there was a period where I considered that song a low point, but it has quietly worked its way up the list.

Totally on board with kicking Fireproof and Heavenfaced off the island though.
 
Slipped is the only song I'd certainly cut off Trouble. It's a bit of a bore for me. Fireproof isn't essential but it's nice enough. Heavenfaced has a great ending which makes it deserving of its place.

As a whole I'd still put Trouble above High Violet and slightly above or on par with Boxer. The former has steadily gone down in my estimation. It's now my least favorite record bar the debut which I still haven't heard. Boxer, on the other hand, has gone in the other direction.
 
Slipped has such a nice melody. I think there was a period where I considered that song a low point, but it has quietly worked its way up the list.

Totally on board with kicking Fireproof and Heavenfaced off the island though.

I'd remove Fireproof, Heavenfaced, and Hard to Find. Pink Rabbits would work spectacularly as a closer anyway. Throw Sunshine on My Back onto the album somewhere as well to round it out.
 
Man, I just love the whole thing. I couldn't imagine removing any songs. It's probably their only album I could say that for.
 
Does ANYONE else not soar when they hear the Lemon piano line in Empire Line?????

Oh man, never cut Slipped. "Fun" story about that song: I spent the Spring falling in love with an incredible woman, but one with whom I had some major differences which the two of us worried would be unbridgeable. We eventually indeed decided that we needed to end the relationship due to those differences, on the second day of summer, in Dallas, right after she had just moved up from Austin to Dallas. A certain line from Slipped gets me every time:

"It'll be summer in Dallas before you realize that I'll never be anything you ever want me to be."

I spent the whole Spring hoping, praying that that wouldn't come true, and then it did. Haunting lyric to me. I love that song.

Oh man, that's heavy :hug:

I fucking adore Slipped, it left me a mess on more than a few occasions, similarly having feelings for someone who didn't reciprocate it. I will not hear a bad word about Slipped, it is absolutely tremendous.

Fireproof, Heavenfaced and Hard to Find definitely the three bottom tracks on TWFM, although there's something to love in each of them, so I don't mind them being on there.
 
The last four songs are perfect. Such such beautiful songs. And I deeply adore the mumbling vocals on the album's bookends, Nobody Else Will Be There and Sleep Well Beast. Tremendously well done, and reminds me a lot of Pop-era Bono. Overall, the album still just isn't click with me, which breaks my heart. Might just be a real slow grower. Definitely has some amazing moments, but a lot of it just leaves me shrugging my shoulders a bit.
 
The last four songs are perfect. Such such beautiful songs. And I deeply adore the mumbling vocals on the album's bookends, Nobody Else Will Be There and Sleep Well Beast. Tremendously well done, and reminds me a lot of Pop-era Bono. Overall, the album still just isn't click with me, which breaks my heart. Might just be a real slow grower. Definitely has some amazing moments, but a lot of it just leaves me shrugging my shoulders a bit.

For me, parts of it are immediate and parts are growers. A lot of melodies on albums by The National are growers for me. They don't make much of an impression or I think, "that could have been better," but before I know it I'm singing along and loving it. Perfect example of this on this album is the vocal melody on the chorus on Day I Die.
 
For me, parts of it are immediate and parts are growers. A lot of melodies on albums by The National are growers for me. They don't make much of an impression or I think, "that could have been better," but before I know it I'm singing along and loving it. Perfect example of this on this album is the vocal melody on the chorus on Day I Die.



I thought Day I Die was pretty National-by-numbers when I first heard it but I absolutely adore it now. It's certainly the one song on the album that gets the most repeat listens at the moment. I had that same vocal melody constantly in my head all of last weekend. Couldn't shake it.

I've gotta say that this album is growing immensely. I love it when you get to that point with an album where you begin to crave an opportunity to listen to it.
 
There's something about the way he sings "walking around like I was the one who found dead John Cheever" that sticks with me. The tone is like an exhausted exasperation.
 
I want to love it, but I'm having a hard time with this album. Some beautiful stuff, but nothing is really sticking and I think Turtleneck is one of the worst songs I've ever listened to. That sort of ruins the album for me.. The melody, chorus, lyrics, the chord progression.. Literally everything about the song makes me cringe. I've never had that happen with a song by the national or u2 or many other great bands. There are some growers on the album but I don't need or want to love this through Stockholm syndrome. It just doesn't connect in ways that previous albums have. It would have been a good EP
 
Turtleneck is a flaming pile of shit, once the novelty of actual rocking out wears off. Fortunately it's by far the worst thing on the record.

Overall I quite like Sleep Well Beast, but I don't love it. Probably file under: occasional plays every few months. Much like the last Radiohead, come to think of it. Respect for not screwing up badly, but not going to be a big part of my life.
 
I love the chorus of Turtleneck and will not apologize for it. I do think lyrically it's very throwaway but the song is meant to be fun and does the job.
 
Same, I actually really enjoy Turtleneck. Not going to be my favorite song on the album or close to it, but I don't dislike it.
 
Feel so odd about this album. Were it not The National I doubt I'd have played it more than I currently have. Can't wait to see how it shapes up live... Gump, any thing to note about the live performances of this era as yet? Been keeping an eye on the setlists so far, each one has been better than the last, thanks to a larger smattering of TWFM and High Violet, and great to see Geese, Baby We'll Be Fine, All the Wine, Lucky You find their way into a few sets. But I'm devastated that they've abandoned Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks as an unplugged finale. Not surprised, they did it for two tours, so time for something different, but that shit was so fucking special and I'm heartbroken I probably won't get to see it again. Akin to U2 closing with 40, I think. Anyway, track-by-track thoughts, and I've erred on the side of harsh in my rankings.

Nobody Else Will Be There - 9
Adore this song. Its atmospherics are astounding. Only needs a feather-light programmed drum line and a desolate piano line (there's a few on this album, and the ones that remind me most of Exile Vilify, like this one, are the best) to suck you in, and then this brilliant, close-to-the-mic, almost-whispered vocal line from Matt. The way he sings "it's getting cold again but New York's gorgeous....." is all-time, particularly the word gorgeous, it takes me immediately back to those creaky, sleazy vocals from Bono on a few Pop tracks, I adore it. Terrific song.

Day I Die - 6
The guitar is fucking sensational. That along with the drumming provides as visceral a rush as their best upbeat rock-pop numbers. The verses are fantastic as well. But then you have the chorus, which takes me out of the song. It's an empty, uninspired line from Matt. He's got plenty of repetitious lyrics, the best of which evoke emotion through their repetition. This one leaves me completely cold and takes me out of the song. Everything else is great. The bridge it feels like there's something at stake. But that chorus, ugh. Try harder. It doesn't even sound nice, the way he sings it.. so, tl;dr: I love this song except for the parts where he sings "day I die day I die where will we be". Wasted opportunity.

Walk it Back - 6
Again, I love the low vocals. The electronica weirded me out at first. I think lyrically it's a gem. Much of the album seems to live in this space of... navigating a long-term relationship where you both love each other and you're in it for the long haul, but with the sheen worn off you keep having these little nagging tiffs. But it doesn't really go anywhere for a long time for me. I dig the change that the final verse provides, and I love the electronica wind-down at the end, but I respect this song more than I really like it.

The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness - 9
Best song on the album, but definitely a bit of a red herring, looking back. It's got great pace and energy, it has these weird-but-wicked distorted guitar stabs, great horns and an awesome chorus where Matt starts really going for it. Catchy as all fuck, will stay in your head for days.

Born to Beg - 4
A few nice lyrics but not much to write home about. They've done this sort of song before - Runaway, Heavenfaced are a couple of examples - and none of those have been favourites and neither is this. This is a boring song that loses my attention almost immediately and never really gets it back.

Turtleneck - 6
Do like that it's significantly different and much more loose than anything they've done since Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, and I don't think it's much to write home about, but it's a cool kick of life and it's only three minutes. Like the raspiness of his vocals, the lyrics. Will never be a favourite but as a throwaway rocker it does a good job. Should be good fun live.

Empire Line - 7
This is a good example of what I'm talking about with this album. I like what's there, but the electronically filtered rhythm section has, by this point, become a little tired. At nearly two minutes it gives way to the gorgeous chorus, with its Lemon homage piano, and then we're back to the the same midtempo, staid rhythm that's found on Walk it Back, Born to Beg and pretty much the entire back half of the album. Bryan's drums FINALLY come in at the three-minute mark, and they're hugely welcome, and the song starts to gain life, but it just takes so long to get there.

I'll Still Destroy You - 5
Again, nice enough, with some lovely vocals in the chorus and some great introspective lyrics, but it just really struggles to get out of second gear. It passes by me without leaving much of a mark at all.

Guilty Party - 8
The start of a four-song run that's really impressive. There's that midtempo, electronically-filtered, skittering rhythm, but there's some subtle key changes (particularly at the start of the chorus), vocal lilts and dark-ish piano that provide weight. The flittering horns are lovely and the last minute, with the anxious synths/piano, gives the song this added sense of tension. Didn't click with me immediately, but impresses a lot in the context of the album.

Carin at the Liquor Store - 8
The Exile Vilify piano again! There's a sort of slow, drunken feel to this song, and it's distinctively The National, too, the slow-but-danceable piano & drums, lines and punchlines that you just don't expect but work perfectly - the John Cheever lines. A spacey guitar solo also adds another wonderful layer. A great addition to the canon of fantastic National ballads.

Dark Side of the Gym - 8
No fucking idea why it's called that, but this is a gorgeous ballad as well. It has this lovely, hazy sort of fuzz to it, it works well with the preceding track, but it stands out on its own as well. Some excellent ocean-y, even U2-esque (when they're being subtle, not smashing you ever the head) guitar work in the background. It's a sweet lyric about infatuation as well. The last couple of minutes combine all the elements together, adding some strings too, and it swells to a lovely climax.

Sleep Well Beast - 9
Its start is very similar to I'll Still Destroy You, but it's a way, way, way better song. Its skittering electronica doesn't really stagnate, like it does on other tracks, it's more of a Kid A / Amnesiac-era, it's subtly uplifting and moving. The lyrics paint this anxious scene, there's a lot of loss and fear and anxiety here, but it's almost like the song is swallowed in valium or something, because the music, even the warped guitar work, combined with Matt's totally hushed, whispered vocals evoke this pleasant, peaceful atmosphere. I would argue that this is perhaps their most atmospheric song they've ever done. It's a wonder, and I adore it, and then unfortunately it just leaves me wanting more of it. The album ends so strongly, it's a shame that it feels the need to... I dunno, sort of almost justify its existence with this walkabout nothingness that's to be found earlier on.


tl;dr rankings!!!

9s
Nobody Else Will Be There
The System Only Dreams in Total Darkness
Sleep Well Beast

8s
Guilty Party
Carin at the Liquor Store
Dark Side of the Gym

7s
Empire Line

6s
Day I Die
Walk it Back
Turtleneck

5s
I’ll Still Destroy You

4s
Born to Beg

Overall: Some great refreshing moments and a handful of awesome new songs to add to the canon but overall an underwhelming listening experience for mine. I'd give this thing a 7.4, if I was a Pitchfork man.
 
Well Cobbler it's always good to see these detailed reviews from you. I've got to say, though, that track-by-track ranking doesn't make much sense for this album because of the incredible attention to detail in sequencing and consistency of mood/instrumentation. This album is greater than the sum of its parts by a significant margin IMO. I agree that it moves at a particular kind of languid pace, but that pace fits the lyrical content about being worn down by a constant drift away from people and things that are valuable to you.

I'd agree that Born to Beg in that it's a track I can do without, but would disagree intensely about I'll Still Destroy You - how you can say it never changes gear in the presence of that pummeling outro needs some explanation. After several listens I would still be comfortable calling this their best album. I'd compare it to Skeleton Tree, actually: both layered, slow-moving albums with a focus on atmosphere over raging emotion.
 
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