THAT National became one of the most iconic indie bands of the late 2000s and early 2010s for two reasons: their combination of sophisticated literary nuances and sublimated musical aggression that often culminates in a baroque, brutal climax, and their unique gift for uniting Generation. X and millennials. The Ohio band is making music for a generation suffocated by automated, alienating work. The challenge is to continue to write about middle-class melancholy and make it sound compelling.” As happened with REM on “Around the Sun”, the band is fighting for a record that critics say should break the band out of the monotony of which it has been accused. The record, which however goes its own way, is certainly similar and almost complements its predecessor.
REM responded to the failure by returning a few years later with a rock album. The National took the opposite approach, and just five months after Frankenstein, the National released a new record:laughter track“, with material co-written by his predecessor. In keeping with its mirrored cover, “Laugh Track” sounds a lot like “The Next Two Pages of Frankenstein”“, continuing the subdued mood and withdrawn outlook of its predecessor, as singer Matt Berninger reveals his depressive anxieties and sings about a deteriorating relationship (“Friendship is melting / Nothing helps,– he sings in a desperate tone). This may disappoint fans who were hoping that the lukewarm reception of “Frankenstein” would inspire the band to shake things up, but “Laugh Track” subtly improves on its predecessor’s approach, almost complementing it. Much of the song was recorded after Frankenstein, using the album’s tour to test and refine vague ideas that had arisen during the writing process, so the playing changed a bit, becoming less rigid and more free-form. In particular, drummer Brian Devendorf returns to playing real drums after “Frankenstein” relegated him mostly to machines. It’s a huge improvement: Devendorf’s drumming has long been an antidote to the narcolepsy that often plagues the band’s compositions, and you manage to place dramatic accents in the right places, adding and subtracting pathos from the proceedings. You can tell by songs like “Turn off the house” or at the end “Space Invader”.
As has become a national record tradition, there are several notable collaborations. Phoebe Bridgers returns on the track that gave the album its title, a sweet song about finding the extremely relatable bright side, and Justin Vernon aka Good Iver should Matt Berninger on “Weird Goodbyes,” a 2022 single with strings notably left out of “Frankenstein.” Both are important names, but essentially they are companions; their voices do not leave an immemorial mark on the history of the group. Separate question for Rosanne Cashwho plays Lady Gaga to Berninger on “Crumble,” one of the album’s most interesting songs that nears the end of the tracklist.
“Laugh Track” could have benefited from more surprises like this, but it doesn’t, because even when it sticks to the nice, easy rhythm that “Frankenstein” struggled to maintain, it can’t shake the sense of monotony that seems to haunt the latter group albums. National, never satisfied with a feast of melancholic ballads, piano and voice. A long psychoanalytic session in the labyrinth of Matt Beringer’s mind, a labyrinth of which we now know every corner.
The most significant change in the album concerns the ending: “Smoke detector” a Velvet Underground-style jam in which Berninger recites vivid abstract poetry over textured guitars for nearly eight minutes: “Make a list of your loved ones in ascending order / Laugh at the blackbirds in the night.”, he sings quietly. Hastily written during soundcheck just a few months ago, it was the last song completed for Laugh Track and feels like it came from a completely different album. After so much composed beauty, its roughness is a correction, a sign of a new direction now that they’ve removed the last of the Frankenstein material from their system. This band still has a ferocious rock album. Maybe next time they will do it.
Forgetful, an inveterate dreamer, constantly looking for beautiful music to flow into my ears. I have been visiting this place since 1998.
My 3 favorite places:
Bloom (Mezzago), Santeria Social Club (Milan), Circolo Gagarina (Busto Arsizio)
First album I bought:
Music cassette “Appetite for Destruction” by Guns & Roses
The first album I wanted to buy:
“Blissard” by Motorpsycho
Something about me that I don’t think is useful for you to know, but I’ll tell you anyway:
To paraphrase John Fante, I often feel overwhelmed by the awareness of the pitiful fate of man, the terrible meaning of his presence. But then I put a good record in my headphones and feel the courage of humanity, and why not, I also feel almost happy to be a part of it.