I got into The National back in 2005 and saw them at the 9:30 Club in DC on their Alligator tour. And ever since then, they’ve consistently created a body of work that gets better with each album. However, upon the first listen of each new record, it takes me about 2 weeks to realize that the newest record is better than the last one.
I love this album. This song is one of their finest. Bryan Devendorf has to be the best drummer in rock right now.
I also went a few weeks ago to see the movie, Mistaken for Strangers, made by Matt Berninger’s brother who, at age 30, still lived at home with his parents in Cincinnati. Matt, the singer for The National, invited his younger brother along for 9 months to film a movie about The National on their tour supporting their last album. I think everyone, including Matt and his brother thought it was going to be a movie about The National, but in the end, everyone working on the movie discovered that the movie would be far more interesting if it was about brotherhood. The National is a super weird band, because it’s composed of two sets of twins, and then the lead singer, Matt. They’re a very symmetric band. It had parallels to another one of my favorite movies, Junebug. But if you have a brother, like I do, see the movie. It’s surprisingly wonderful and moving. After the movie, Matt, his brother Tom, and Matt’s wife answered questions from the audience. ‘Twas amazing.