The National: Sunshine on My B&Ck

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I do feel like they're in the mode now where they want to get as much done as they can before they retire to their families.
 
Well my interest is peaked. It's a departure, I'm not sure I'm a 100% down with the direction, but we'll see.


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I quite like that. It is certainly weird hearing Matt's voice over the top of some music that is actually poppy and upbeat, might take some getting used to, but that sounds like a good song to my ears.

I notice Bryan Devendorf collaborated with another member of Menomena for a group called Pfarmers... anyone hear that? Did he just drum on it?
 
cobl04 said:
I quite like that. It is certainly weird hearing Matt's voice over the top of some music that is actually poppy and upbeat, might take some getting used to, but that sounds like a good song to my ears.

I notice Bryan Devendorf collaborated with another member of Menomena for a group called Pfarmers... anyone hear that? Did he just drum on it?
Click to expand...


I listened to Pfarmers. I wouldn't necessarily say it stuck with me unfortunately


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I saw them a couple years ago at Loufest, which is an outdoor festival in St. Louis.

So yeah, this venue is going to be just a little different.
 
Catchy chorus. Not sure about the lyrics though. There's a fucking Pitchfork reference in there.

Berninger should really cut his hair. He's approaching Thom Yorke levels of hobo.
 
Just heard an El Vy song for the first time. I don't know what I was expecting, but that certainly wasn't it. This is 100% Ashley approved.

Their shows here are already sold out :sad:.
 
Sounds good in typical The National style. I wonder when they'll start getting more backlash for not changing their sound. It's bound to happen at some point.
 
I think it already has in some quarters. Maybe I'm in the minority but I think they're getting better. Trouble Will Find Me is an all-timer in my view and tops High Violet which tops Alligator and Boxer pretty comfortably.

Very meh on that new song.
 
I think they are probably approaching some sort of tipping point, not only in critic/fan backlash, but in terms of their work. Nobody can go on forever, and I wonder if the well is running a little dry.
 
They can still change tack while sounding like themselves. But they need to work in more extremes. The chamber pop direction of Exile Vilify seemed very promising and that remains one of their best songs. On the other hand, if they wanted to rock out like they did on parts of Alligator and Sad Songs, Sea of Love would be a good reference point.

Another album full of lukewarm midtempo tracks that sound like Anyone's Ghost and Don't Swallow the Cap could really hurt their career.
 
I don't see how Exile Vilify is much different. Would fit pretty comfortably on either of the last two albums. I think the second half of Trouble Will Find Me finds them expanding their sound a little bit: Pink Rabbits has a terrific piano line that doubles as percussion, I Need My Girl has a wicked anxious, pinched guitar line, Humiliation has a great cascading outro and both Pink Rabbits and This is the Last Time take on new and hugely effective emotional notes about two-thirds of the way through their run times.


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There's virtually no band on Exile Vilify. They've generally worked all of their chamber influences into a rock framework, but there's little to that song but piano, vocals and strings. Some soft percussion, sure, but they limit their ace drummer to tambourine and a few rolls. That's a change. All of the songs you mention sound like a rock band played them. They've done acoustic songs before (what band hasn't?) but clearly they were trying something different for a soundtrack.

That said, I think there are subtle songwriting choices made in Pink Rabbits (time signature), Humiliation (driving, krautrock-influenced beat) and This Is the Last Time (probably their most unabashedly romantic sounding track) that show them stretching a bit. But then plenty of songs fit into a formula. Is there a more prototypical National song than Graceless? Not that I think that's necessarily a bad thing. I really like the album too.
 
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I don't even mind the band not changing their sound, per se (and they aren't likely to, except in the gradual sense of evolving production choices/instrumental embellishments over the years). But I'd like Matt to be taken out the back and given a bit of a talking to vis a vis lyrical subject matter. Another album of hyper-insular love-gone-sour songs with nary a detour, like Trouble Will Find Me, could be a dealbreaker. On that note, his little EL VY side project or whatever it's called, shows some promise, a little bit of piss and vinegar for a change, even if I find it musically pretty lightweight.
 
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