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No Longer Mistaken for Strangers
Brooklyn’s best band, the National, playing at Prospect Park
Photo: Keith Klenowski
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(Originally appeared in Encore’s July issue)
Is it possible to talk about the National and not mention the words “gloom” or “glower”? Considering I couldn’t even get past the lede without bringing it up, the answer is a rather resounding “no.” But that doesn’t seem to bother the supposedly depressed band.
The National is composed of vocalist Matt Berninger and two pairs of brothers: Aaron (guitar, bass and piano) and Bryce (guitar) Dessner, and Scott (guitar and bass) and Bryan (drums) Devendorf. I asked the drumming Devendorf whether the “gloom” label bothers the band, and he said, “’Gloomy’ seem fair game. As for ‘glower,’ I don’t get it. Like Matt sullenly glowers? That’s cool too, I guess. Can’t argue with semantics.”
This isn’t a band that has much to be gloomy (or glower) about anymore. The National’s latest album, High Violet, debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts in May, selling an impressive 51,000 copies. The group’s reaction: “Shock, then disappointment over not being number one.”
The National formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio, but they didn’t release their self-titled debut album until after moving to Brooklyn. After The National came Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers and 2004’s Cherry Tree EP. A year later, after quitting their day jobs and signing with Beggars Banquet Records, the National released Alligator, and along with it came their first headlining tour. Then came Boxer, one of the greatest albums of the previous decade, and its track, “Apartment Story,” the greatest song of the decade, in my opinion.
But the National weren’t content to rest on Boxer’s laurels, and the band famous for recording a song then taking it apart and starting all over again continued their impressive run with High Violet. The album sounds more “wild” than its predecessor, especially on perfect world radio hit “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” something Devendorf says was intentional. “Definitely a conscious effort to not think,” he said, “and play extemporaneously.”
The National are currently touring until late November for the new album, and recently played Bonnaroo (their biggest show yet) and Radio City Music Hall. For all those who couldn’t make the Music Hall performance, the band will be back “home,” so to speak, for a July 27 performance at Prospect Park, along with Beach House, whose recent Teen Dream deserves praise as well (and was ranked as the second best album of the year so far by us).
On the road, Devendorf has discovered aspects of the songs he didn’t notice while making them in a studio. “After performing the songs live,” he said, “I find things that I wished I’d recorded. But then I think there are things on the recording that have eluded us on the bandstand. Certainly, every song poses its own terms.”
Whether on a laptop’s iTunes or live in front of 15,000 people, the National do Brooklyn proud. I’m lucky enough to live in Ditmas Park, where a few members of the group reside, and every so often, I’ll think, “The guys who recorded Boxer are only a few minutes away.” At that point, the gloominess doesn’t matter.