The National

The National are some friends and two pairs of brothers from Cincinnati, Ohio, who started making music in 1999 when they found themselves living near one another again in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. Matt Berninger sings because he's taller, blonder, and older than the rest - Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Scott Devendorf play guitar and bass, while Bryan Devendorf drums. Padma Newsome, who's from Australia, has become a fairly permanent fixture too, and plays keyboards and violins and other stranger things.

They weren't looking to take over the world with a demo and matching outfits. Rather, music was their way of letting off steam from those good jobs. Records are what they talked about when they went out drinking together, when they ate together, when they played wiffle ball in the summertime. Simply put, songwriting allowed The National to deepen their conversations. It's how they broached the topics they really wanted to talk about -- how they were past the halfway mark between twenty and thirty and speeding toward a kind of permanence they never expected; how they pleased and disappointed their mothers and fathers; how flings had become girlfriends, and girlfriends, wives.

Their self-titled debut album "The National" (Brassland 2001) was recorded and released before they had played even a single show, before the music spilled far from their heads. They cut the album with engineer Nick Lloyd and formed a label with writer Alec Bemis, so those recordings could be released. Not much really happened, except for the UK's Kerrang magazine unexpectedly giving it four Ks, calling it "the stuff underground legends are made of"...

The National made a second album, "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers" (Brassland/Talitres 2003). The staff was the same, though Peter Katis, who produced both Interpol records, helped produce and mix, and Australian composer Padma Newsome from Clogs collaborated on arrangements and strings. Rolling Stone and many other magazines noticed this one, and when it made its way to Europe, magazines the band had never heard of began saying it was one of the year's best.

Following the first session of several for Bernard Lenoir on France's Radio Inter, an in-between EP was released, Cherry Tree, containing what would become the blueprint for the sound on their next record and the session of Sad Song's standout Murder Me Rachael. After these accolades and being completlely blown away by their live show, Roger Trust signed them to Beggars Banquet.

A show at their favorite bar became a van ride to neighboring cities, became a plane ride to Europe, became two summers overseas. Their ties to those good jobs slackened. And they continue on their own path, moving out even further out in Brooklyn to Ditmas Park, where there is space and familiar suburban streets and even Geese on Beverly Road. Their new album, "Alligator", much of which was recorded at their homes in Ditmas Park, was engineered by Paul Mahajan, who has worked with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and TV on the Radio. Padma Newsome camped out for a month with the band, and Peter Katis added more production and mixed the record at his house in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Berninger's potent baritone still intones about matters fraught and funny and sad; about record collections, missing persons and medium-sized American hearts. But the record's not simply gothic or miserablist -- more like the plays of Tennessee Williams, it's full of peculiar intimacies and awkward grace. Alligator's heroes are reckless and possessed seducers, but they are apologetic ones. In The National's imaginings, in songs alternately lush and spare, there is something twighlit and dreamy worked out in the basement of our brains.

'Abel', 'Secret Meeting' and 'Lit Up' were released as singles.

On May 22nd, 2007, The National released their follow-up to Alligator, Boxer, on Beggars Banquet. Taking advantage of the fact that no-one had heard their first album and earliest demos, Matt proceeded to steal lyrics and melodies from them and give them the attention they deserved while keeping the intimacy that made them special. They even managed to convince new friend Sufjan Stevens to lay down some piano tracks for them, and recorded the album in a scant 6 months after coming off the long post-Alligator road. Peter Katis was again at the helm and Bryan's drumming is particurlarly punchy this time around.

Thus far, 'Mistaken for Strangers' and 'Apartment Story' have been released as singles. The band have just finished touring North America and are on a large European autumn/winter tour after playing high slots at several large festivals. In their Dec. 07/Jan. 08 issue, Paste magazine named Boxer best record of 2007.

The National homepage: http://www.americanmary.com/
Brassland homepage: http://brassland.org/
Beggars Banquet homepage: http://www.beggars.com/