The Last Drop

The National, Alligator - I really wanted to hate this album. As with most ultra-hyped indie artists that create enough buzz to deafen their audience, I am always suspicious of group mentality. If enough people love you and tell all their friends to love you, is it really love or just peer pressure? I try not to succumb to peer pressure (thank you D.A.R.E) unless it is truly worthwhile. While I see the merits of this album and The National as a whole, I’m still not sold on their vast appeal and worship. At first, I was just surprised that I didn’t hate their sound off the bat. It’s a lot quieter than I imagined (they did name it Alligator) and the punch lies heavily in their lyrics than in the music. There are a few moments of musical intensity that remind me a lot of Arcade Fire (“Abel” comes to mind), but much of what their sound relies on is brooding, nonchalance juxtaposed to dense (in a good way) lyrics. ” Daughters of the Soho Riots” proved my favorite track in that the music and lyrics were equally matched. However, the vast majority of the album fell into a dead space of “eh” since the blanket stoicism of the lead vocals never grabbed me. This seems to be a growing trend with contemporary indie musicians – lyrics shall overcome all. Sometimes, I just wish people would actually sing. I also struggled with the rock with strings format. Although it is not overused and adds to the overall feel of moodiness, it’s just not my thing. Cellos are now necessary in any rock band with “feeling”. Again, I just don’t buy it. I can’t say that this is a poor album, but I can’t give it the blind praise that everyone else has.