The National - First Two Pages... & Laugh Track Album • Page 77

The National would need to suck for like a decade and then release a good new album everyone ignored for them to be of any value to Pitchfork. They’ll rush to plant their flag with a 7.8-9 and be the first to bring it to everyone’s attention that a 20 year old band is good again but they have absolutely no good vibes for a new album from a steady, already popular band decades into their career who everyone else will already accurately review as “yes. band is still good.”

 

I would have never called them washed but they were not firing on all cylinders all the time.

 

Only on "Space Invader" but the songs are way more consistent on this than they were on Frankenstein, even if that record had some higher highs (at least so far). I like it.

 

Nearing the end and this is the most I've loved a The National album since Trouble Will Find Me. It feels much more immediate than the last couple releases at least.

 

The highs are higher on this, especially smoke detector. The only song from Frankenstein that is as high is eucalyptus

 

pitchfork was brutal on this one but I'm loving it. Didn't really like first two pages at all

 

Can’t wait to keep reading this, loved the first two pages

 

thank you

 

I was gonna say, what’s the song that didn’t fit on Sleep Well Beast? And then realized it’s obviously Turtleneck

 

Dark Side of the Gym for me. Always a skip.

 

"I don't wanna talk because I don't wanna fight
We always get bogged down in the heavy shit, you know what it's like"

Oh we are so back lol

 

I think casual fans / music fans in general aren’t part of ‘the backlash’. From what I read, online wise at least, it’s hardcore fans who want the band to maintain some form of ethos they imagine the band had around Alligator -> High Violet, IMO. Them getting old and the music maturing, them working with certain ‘outside’ artists, them being less precious/important about artwork, etc. has caused some fans to find disappointment in their post-TWFM work and FTPOF was the most recent album to express that about.

 

"Turtleneck" and "Dark Side of the Gym" are both excellent. "Born to Beg" is the snoozer on SWB, but it's more of a sequencing issue than anything

 

My issue with FTPOF is that it was half-baked, simple as that. IAETF might not reach the highs of HV/TWFM/SWB, but the songs are there and it still feels like an achievement even if it bites off more than it can chew. The worst part about Frankenstein is that the low points feel like AI-generated National songs

 

Walk It Back with the Karl Rove quote also is a bit off.

 

IAETF is still so boring to me. Frankenstein was a return to form.

 

I think that people can’t agree on which album is the bummer or which SWB banger is the skippable track is a good sign that these guys are pretty awesome and we all appreciate them for differing reasons sometimes.

IAETF is the one that’s a step below the last 4 records, if I had to be forced to slight one of them.

 

I loved IAETF, felt less enthusiastic about Frankenstein upon release, but will probably get deeper into it now that I can listen to Laugh Track and Frankenstein together.

 

Gimme an alternate single-LP with a tracklist like this and better artwork, now we're really talking

Once Upon a Poolside (ft. Sufjan Stevens)
Deep End (Paul's in Pieces)
Weird Goodbyes (ft. Bon Iver)
Space Invader
Tropic Morning News
The Alcott (ft. Taylor Swift)
Hornets
Ice Machines
Crumbling (ft. Rosanne Cash)
Your Mind Is Not Your Friend (ft. Phoebe Bridges)
Smoke Detector
Send for Me

 

You included the song that sets off the Mad Dads tho.

 

I don't know what song that is

 

Funny, my first impressions of the two Pauls is the opposite, lol. I thought Frankenstein flowed great, while the highs of this are more exciting.

 

where the fuck is "alien" in that combined tracklist

moreover where the fuck is "eucalyptus"

 

Post your combined track listing on their subreddit. And we can see in real time.

(Alcott)

 

("eucalyptus" kinda became my favorite national song of all time over the past few months)