THE NATIONAL are another achingly cool band from the States who one suspects may not be able to live up to all the hype given the constant incursion over the last couple of years of American bands who’ve rediscovered post punk and have reignited dormant passions for many an aging music writer eager to dazzle us all with their anecdotal stories of how they were there first time around (Me? Never!). In the band’s favour they’re already two albums into their career and so can lay claim to be comparatively old Turks to young bucks like The Bravery.
Their last long player (2003 ‘Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers’) was one of Uncut’s albums of the year and was lauded by critical tomes as diverse as NME and The Sunday Times. Formed in 1999 and comprising of brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf and Matt Berninger THE NATIONAL are based in New York and have recently signed to Beggars Banquet in the UK who will be releasing their third album ‘Alligator’ in April.
Before then we have the single ‘Abel’ with which to gauge their position on the insistent barometer of hip and happening. The arrangement of the title track is very, very (and I’ll say it again) VERY indebted to Joy Division, only the shouted manic chorus-line breaking away from the originators’ tight mould. Thematically this seems to be in keeping with the song’s lyrics, predisposed as they are to fragile mental states, “I see water on the bridge / Well you’d better hold my hand through this / Turn around, turn around, take me back / I can’t calm down / My mind’s not right”.
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On the CD version of the single there are two extra tracks ‘Driver, Surprise Me’ and ‘Keep It Upstairs’. The former could be an outtake from Interpol’s last album, right down to the lyrics, phrasing and arrangement. That said there is grace and grandeur coursing through the song that brings to mind ‘Heroes’-era Bowie and this allows the song to achieve an arresting poise. ‘Keep It Upstairs’ returns to the unsettling subject of fractured minds, albeit in a far more restrained way. Musically there’s something of Rem/Wilco/Mercury Rev in the song’s pared down alt-rock atmosphere and hushed vocals.
Whilst ‘Abel’ does not cover any new ground or offer revelations with which to fall to your knees in gratitude there is most definitely something enigmatic about the band and their sound. The problem for THE NATIONAL is that at this stage in the current US influx there’s not quite enough in their music to position them far enough away from the leading pack who unfortunately for them forage from the same record collection that inform these songs.
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