The National – Alligator (Beggars Banquet) Released 11/04/2005

Since forming in 1999, The National have carefully nurtured their emotively captivating sound, to create an album that is as much fraught as it is content, complex as it is simple, and as warm as it is cold.

Having recently signed to Beggars Banquet, the Ohio five-piece release their third album ‘Alligator’, having already won deserved critical acclaim for previous albums ‘The National’ and ‘Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers’.  From start to finish ‘Alligator’ is a complete gem, engrossing you into a world of spinning emotions.  Lead singer Matt Berninger compliments the bands warm orchestrations with his soft baritone vocals, delivering a lyrical diversity torn between emotions of sadness and happiness.  Opening track ‘Secret Meeting’ is a testament to The National’s progress, beginning with warm melodic guitar riffs absorbed within the progressive drumming skills of Bryan Devendorf, to create a wonderful ambiance that gradually evolves into a wonderful crescendo of overlapping background vocals reminiscent of Modest Mouse’s ‘Float On’.

The album never wavers from the quality set out in the opening track, continuing on the same plateau with songs like ‘Lit up’ and ‘Looking for astronauts’, which typify The National’s peculiar yet wonderful sound.  The National have a knack in maintaining the same ambient and warm feelings throughout, whilst still managing to alternate their instrumentation and tempo, as the album ranges from the melancholy number ‘Baby, we’ll be fine’, to the Walkmen-like ‘Abel’ to ‘The Geese of Beverly Road’, which is easily one of the best tracks written by the band.

The National are certainly in the right hands, with the album being produced by Paul Mahajan (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), with additional recording and production by Peter Katis (Interpol), and having recently toured with The Walkmen, you can be sure to hear this name much more often in the near future.