The National - First Two Pages... & Laugh Track Album • Page 26

per the Primavera Sound performance, yes! 53:39

 

Just got around to listening and I love it! Pretty standard National fare, but still great. Also melody reminds me of Squalor Victoria at the start of the chorus

 

The song is okay. I was hoping for something more explosive.

 

Same. More like Atreyu or something, right?

 

The drums really, really don't though. The guitars absolutely do and are definitely a highlight of the song, but the drums almost sound like the type of thing a band slaps on a demo when their drummer isn't present for the sessions. It's just a strange choice from a band with one of the most talented and interesting and dynamic drummers currently playing. It's still a decent song.

I would say the closer from TWFM "Hard To Find" is a great example of Bryan Devendorf playing for the song - the drums are by no means bombastic and are actually quite subtle, yet they are still dynamic, and you can absolutely tell it's not only a human playing them but that it's him.

 

Yes that is what I meant

 

Whatever drum sample foibles and cover art squabbles we have now will be nothing compared to when the Tay track drops and the High Violet Bois’ see red.

 

any thoughts on this

 

High Violet is their best record

 

I wonder how @mintplusplus feels about High Violet.

 

Trouble will find me is my favorite, but high violet is my second favorite.

 

We got three stone cold classics (Lemonworld, Bloodbuzz, and Afraid) and a live classic (Terrible Love) and they left the rest of the stuff I didn’t like behind. All in all, good rec.

 

My takeaway is that he stans that album more than every post by that guy in The Used thread combined

 

this discussion has me revisiting HV

the studio "terrible love" sounds good and cool and always has
"little faith" mad underrated I think (don't know the hivemind necessarily) the heart of the A side to me, wonderful groove and mood
I hate "runaway" sorry
"england" and "vanderlyle" both shamefully corny but I actually like the latter for some reason

 

The bass line alone in Little Faith is super elite

 

Anyones ghost is pretty meh but the rest of the album is great. Although the alternative verison of terrible love is much better than the standard version.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever heard the alternate version of terrible love.

 

Yeah, I’ve never even heard of it

 

I just listened and it’s good but I’m used to the album version.

 

IMO, this is the best version. It was mind blowing hearing this for the first time, as it was the first new music since Boxer blew up and put them in rarified indie rock air. My immediate thought was “They did it again. They jumped to a whole other level.”

 

Yeah, I love the album version so I’m intrigued that an alt can be considered better

 

I love High Violet as an album but the alternate version of Terrible Love is so much better than the album version it isn't even funny. The two versions aren't even in the same league. It's the only misstep on HV as far as I'm concerned.

 

Album TL is too muddled and alt version (although better) is kind of glossy. The song has ended up being one of those tracks that lives on stage and was never captured definitively in the studio, IMO.

Anyone’s Ghost and Conversation 16 are interesting, especially at the time when they were a new texture for the band, but, in hindsight, they’re a bit shiny and thin. Sorrow isn’t quite as thin but it feels in the family of those two, where they have a good song in there but (IMO) they didn’t get fleshed out and refined to the same level that the band usually tightens up their songs.

Little Faith is a nice little ugly thing that I think is placed too high in the tracklisting and sequenced around the weird Terrible Love choice, a very very on-the-nose Sorrow, and their attempt to be “upbeat” (Anyone’s Ghost). So instead of a cool weird thing, it’s another kind of slightly-off track before they go HAM and roll off an insane murderers row of Afraid of Everyone, Bloodbuzz, and Lemonworld.

 

A favorite category of mine is “great live televised performances” and this has always been a part of that list.

 

HV should have started with sorrow and ending with the alt verison of terrible love. Sorrow is a good opener but not the best second track.