“Mistaken for Strangers”, Abel Come On

Mistaken for Strangers 
Beefeater In-Edit 2013, Chapter IV

Back with movies, with the rockumentaries still pending from the latest In-Edit Festival. And we do it with The National. Here goes my band, again.

The most serious group in the "indie planet" shows a much unexpected side, stripping their impeccable black suits and matching ties to offer a funny but equally engaging film about two brothers: Matt and Tom, the Berninger brothers, living extremely different lives. The bloodless, indie-rock version of Cain and Abel with the best soundtrack of the decade. Of course.

Leaving the traditional “tour” rockumentary behind, although there’s some fantastic footage of their mind-blowing gigs too, “Mistaken for Strangers” is a surprising private show, where film director Tom Berninger, Matt’s younger brother blows up all the genre cliches. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t help but think the film has some similarities or debts with the magnificent documentary about Banksy, “Exit Throught the Gift Shop”, where the viewer never knows if the whole plot is a mockery or deadly serious.

If you are looking a film about the band, is not here (the only omplaint I have about is how the rest of the band is sacrificed for the coherence of the film). This is a portrait not so much of The National, but of the relationship between these two brothers, Matt Berninger, the lead singer of a band in the rise and an alternative icon himself, and Tom Berninger, the unlikely roadie of the band while they embark on the "High Violet" tour through Europe, aiming to film his adventure with his now famous older brother while he figures out what he does with his pretty messy life and his… demons.

Even with the shades of being in front of a spoof movie, “Mistaken for Strangers” not only entertains and makes you laugh (Tom really steals the show here with his ridiculous behaviour and comic disasters, even funnier in contrast with the highly professional and serious image the band gives) but it’s also surprisingly rich and emotionally affecting.

Rich because the movie reveals itself as and absorbing insight inside the hard, troubled quest, into the creative process. The creative process of a band trying to give their best live (the scene with Matt losing his temper, his exhausted looks to his annoying brother), on the road (the patience and attempts to understand the peculiar logic of Tom’s questions from the rest of the band members), and a glimpse on the studio starting what it would become "Trouble Will Find Me" ("I Should Live on Salt" playing). And the process of filming the documentary itself, with a sprawling mess of footage the most chaotic filmmaker ever will have to ensemble and give coherence to.

And emotionally affecting, because Matt and Tom’s exposure. What does it mean to be successful? How does it affects the relationship between two brothers? The film depicts it to an absorbing depth, and although there’s a sense of chaos and luck (on purpose?) there are real feelings that cannot be acted (faked) that well enough, like the admiration Tom has for his brother and Co., or how the famous rock frontman is eager to help doing whatever Tom requests him while he keeps pushing his younger brother to finish his (by then) improbable movie. By the time “Terrible Love” is performed, you are completely captivated by the film, and that rousing and impossibly revealing take of one of their most powerful tunes, with the Berninger together will really bring you to your knees.

SCORE: 8,25/10

A glorious picnic with The National

The National (+ Daughter). Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles, August 11th 

The National live. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

... At a cemetery. Doesn't sound incredibly strange to you?  And what does it have to do with music, and with The National in particular? I completely shared your feelings before the concert, but it does have an explanation...

The image of a gig queue transformed into a picnic is so shocking for a Spaniard concertgoer like me. People armed with glasses, blankets, towels, chairs, bottles and of course all sort of drinks and food... what is this all about? Aren't we going to a gig? Plus, the concert was at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, as the name suggests... a cemetery where some entertainment celebrities rest, including Johnny Ramone. A thousand questions about the audience behavior and the development of the concert itself were raised, but they all got solved quickly.

Picnic time! Photo: Bloodbuzzed

First, the "picnic issue" turned out to be a fantastic solution: the ones looking forward for the gig (the core, die-hard fans, I guess) in the forefront as usual, while the rest enjoyed their meals & drinks in a more chilled way, just a few meters behind the standing crowd. As a result, the mood of the night was relaxed and pleasant, the only focus being what it should be: the music. And second, the "cemetery issue". The audience was respectful and careful, and the sound of both bands was fantastic all night. Our concerns regarding the place vanished, replaced with a very special sensation. The vibes of an unforgettable night.

Daughter. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Support act Daughter opened the event with the sun coming down the Hollywood Cemetery. Among the new best discoveries and records of the year so far to me, I was really looking forward to watch them live, as my first experience with them at Primavera Sound 2013 was quite frustrating. Not this time. The British trio proved that tunes from their debut album "If You Leave" are haunting, a crossover between intimate folk-rock and the stark minimalistic beauty of The XX. If only, a minor complaint would be the sometimes repetitive percussive sounds, no doubt a powerful rhythm section fire-powering Elena's delicate voice, but perhaps swallowing her just for the sake of putting more muscle to their music live.

A real "Big Three". Photo: Bloodbuzzed

And then came the hour of The National, after a trailer presenting the "Mistaken for Strangers" documentary (this is Hollywood, after all) and the mesmerizing "Magic Chords" from SharonVan Etten giving the entrance to the band members. Since the opening couplet, "I Should Live in Salt" and "Don’t Swallow the Cap", the bar was set really high, the first one gaining weight and punch live, while the second highlighting the multiple talents of the Dessner brothers (their backing voices ever-present all night).

I won’t continue this chronicle with a song-by-song analysis, it would become overlong. Besides, I don’t know that many superlative adjectives in English to go on without repeating myself for 25 fantastic tunes on a concert that went beyond the two hours. This was my fifth time at a National's gig, and in the last three times I have attended them with different people with very different music tastes and levels of knowledge about the band, but the reaction has been always the same, summarized in the recurrent comment: wow, how good they are!

Screaming dandy. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Indeed they are. I don’t know if it’s their sophisticated, serious image, but my guess is that people consider The National a “studio band”, that has to be a bit boring or too ecstatic live. So, when infallible tunes like “Mistaken for Strangers” or “Squalor Victoria” (the crowd went wild), newbies do not only watch how stunning songs are played, but also a band that really knocks you out. This is particularly the case with Matt’s performance. The elegant gentleman, dressed & singing like a dandy, erupting like a roaring beast when the song requires it. Sorry punks and metal-heads, but it is not about how much you scream, but that when you do it does “mean” something. Whether is their fierce, straightforward side, like top-notch "Sea of Love" (expected greatness and that’s exactly what I found), or is refined, subtler version, like "Demons", there's always plenty to get attracted to, and a pulsating beat (National fans know how important is the unique drumming from Bryan Devendorf) a tension that propels the tunes to another dimension.

As expected, "Trouble Will Find Me" got the major focus, with 10 tunes overall on the gig’s setlist, which is a clear sign of the group’s confidence in the new material. The intensity of “Pink Rabbits” and “I Need My Girl” (that Matt announced saying he could also sing about less miserable/ darker issues) were among the best moments of the show, while “Humiliation”, with a mind-blowing finale, or the superb “This Is the Last Time” and “Graceless” just confirmed the masterful pieces they are. Even "Heavenfaced", for me one of the less inspired new songs, chosen especially for such a “special venue”, improved dramatically live.

Band on fire. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

But The National was also generous on "High Violet", performing many of its winning cards, like “Anyone’s Ghost”, "Afraid of Everyone", "Conversation 16", “Bloodbuzz Ohio” and “England”, received with an overwhelming response of the public (very good taste you have fellow Americans). A couple of incursions into “Alligator” with killer “Abel” (another tune reinforcing the idea of a shocking band for newcomers) and “All the Wine” (that “like every Californian” line), plus some of “Boxer” masterpieces, like “Slow Show”, that allowed a cheerful Matt to show his range as a showman (they were in a relaxed mood and funny remarks, fuelled also by the place, abounded) commenting how surprised he was this song was being used for weddings despite the references to “his penis” in the lyrics, or personal favorite “Fake Empire”, one of THE SONGS, that closed the gig before the encore…

Acoustic National. Photo: Bloodbuzzed

Ah, the encore. As someone already “initiated” on The National live, I knew this is usually reserved to the “Matt’s goes crazy” territory. And it was, of course, with the explosions of “Mr. November” and “Terrible Love”. But what I didn’t expect was “About Today” to start the last batch of songs, and the end with a choral (Daughter members included) rendition of “Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks”. Absolutely devastating* for this humble writer.

An afternoon that started with doubts ended being a glorious picnic. Simply one of the best gigs of my life, thanks to the greatest band (in my opinion) of the planet today.

*Yes, that means tears…

"Trouble Will Find Me", The National's revisited

Trouble Will Find Me

Here it is, "Trouble Will Find Me", the sixth album of The National, has arrived. Maybe you’ve noticed, but they are my favourite band, now that R.E.M. called it a day. So there’s no point telling you about my expectations with the record -my warning: this review will be long-. Disk of the year or great disappointment? Extremes of a debate that doesn’t make much sense for a band that has achieved its commercial success gradually and without renouncing its identity signs, in a transition to "first division of indie" accomplished with three consecutive masterpieces, “Alligator”, “Boxer” and “High Violet” -won’t admit any discussion about it-. Identity signs that are more present than ever with this new album, combined with a feeling, confirmed by the group in several interviews, that they have created their new songs in the most relaxed atmosphere of their entire career, more secure than ever of their position as musicians. The result is a calm, self-referential record. To put it simply, no one but The National could make “Trouble Will Find Me”. It's The National's revisited.

The first example that the Ohio-Brooklyn guys are convinced of the path they have chosen, indifferent to pressures and expectations, comes at the very beginning of the record. Three years ago, “High Violet” began with the expansive, explosive “Terrible Love” -only surpassed by its abysmal live version-, one of those tunes ideal for grabbing the attention of any listener, even the lesser fans. One would expect a tune of that magnitude on a LP that should consecrate them as a mediatic band. On the other hand, “Trouble Will Find Me” opens with “I Should Live On Salt”, close to the alternative country sounds of “Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers”, and “Demons”, an ode to depression by all means, with a bleak lyric -"Oh, everyday I start so great/Then the sunlight dims [...] When I walk into a room/I do not light it up/Fuck"-. Two magnificent intimate songs where simplicity is the key, also highlighting Matt Berninger's voice, one of the pillars on which this album specially holds onto, sharp and fragile on the first, telluric and gloomy on the second.

The speed increases, without exploding, with “Don't Swallow the Cap”, the second song we discovered as an advance of the album, and the sort of tune where The National excels. The accelerated and elusive rhythm from Bryan Devendorf’s drums, like a beating heart at the moment of maximum tension, escorts the stumbled recitation of Matt while one million small nuances are taking place –among them, although measured, shines the female voice that gives him his replica, still not disclosed if it is Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent or Nona Marie Invie of “Dark Dark Dark”- colliding in a perfect chorus.

Next comes a new twist towards more delicate and direct territory with “Fireproof”, where the Dessner brothers, armed with acoustic guitars, extend the sonic mantle on which Berninger shoots one of his most vitriolic lyrics -reference to Elliot Smith included-. I don't know if you have had the pleasure -and stomach- to read Richard Yates, but after the ill-fated New York writer, few authors are able to dissect the darker parts of relationships as our bearded frontman does. Resentment transformed into a tune.

Then it is the turn to the also well known “Sea of Love”, where the band shows his more fierce and cathartic side, with a sublime set of "question-answer" with the chorus in the final crescendo, where, in addition to making us salivate imagining how powerful can be this song live, show us an unrecognized feature in their music: the sense of humor -"what Harvard did teach you?"-. Very dark one, of course.

However, “Trouble Will Find Me” clearly leans towards slower numbers and melancholic ballads. “Heavenfaced” and “This Is the Last Time” invite the listener to introspection. But while the first may be among the least remarkable of the album, with a Berninger throwing himself into a chorus too forced, typical of other bands, the second is simply wonderful. Again propped up with acoustic guitars, the tune is elegant, desperate, rich and subtle -the entry of the strings, the female voice, the final minute, etc-. Precious.

In an album much needed of upbeat tunes that serve as a counterpoint to such stillness, “Graceless” is manna dropped from the sky, with its turbulent urge and bleak lyrics -"I took the medicine and I went missing"- which breaks in a coda that is made to be echoed live. Instant anthem. But we return to the usual tone of the record immediately. “Slipped” is a simple theme built around the piano, being its main attraction Berninger, with a lyric -"I don't any help to be breakable, believe me"- debtor of another American literature's master, John Cheever, portraying the sense of frustration of the contemporary human being in everyday stories, though Berninger does not lose his sense of humor-"I'll try to keep my skeleton in"-. Much more significant is “I Need My Girl”, with guitars drawing an ethereal and enveloping atmosphere, resulting in one of the most exciting moments of the album.

And we arrive to the final stretch of “Trouble Will Find Me”, where we find “Humiliation”, a singular song, probably the less recognizable The National has ever written. A crazy, surreal lyric -I insist, the twisted humor of Berninger comes out definitely with this album- in a piece with a special, hypnotic, floating energy, where the particular sensory state of the character described on it fits perfectly with the music, “Blue Velvet’s" coda included.

More conventional, but equally impeccable is “Pink Rabbits”, romantic and emotional with the funereal piano -death is a recurring theme on the album- and that epic end in which seems to be both hope and learning about oneself. On the other hand, the actual closing of the record comes with the more discreet “Hard to Find”, solemn and beautifully orchestrated, but inconspicuous after the previous piece.

Compared with their three previous albums, “Trouble Will Find Me” surely loses out, due to a couple of tunes that doesn’t add much and to the accumulation of slow songs on a long album. Certainly, those who seek “Alligator's” visceral mood, or the fascinating repressed turbulence of “Boxer” will be disappointed. Also those who were waiting for a collection of “Bloodbuzzed Ohio” or “Terrible Love”, definitely opening them the gates of the charts. But The National have opted to follow his own path, preferring for complex compositions where small details prevail, and with a few exceptions, where the outstanding songs are not obvious, but there to be discovered and assimilated by the listener. In short, it may rate a bit lower than its predecessors, or it may not be the indisputable masterpiece we are used to receive from them. But it’s an excellent record (another one to add to an already mind blowing career) from a unique band.

Sorry about the long post. This was a special review for me.

SCORE: 8,25/10

The haunted castle: The National's best performance

Oh, summer mornings when you are a bit lazy to do anything... But sometimes you end checking, by chance, a series of old videos you didn't see when they were made public (May 2010). In this Pitchfork.tv series, "The Castle Rock Sessions", The National play three songs from "High Violet" at an abandoned castle on the Hudson River. The building, in the middle of the woods, seems to affect the sound, providing the music an otherworldly energy. Might be the best performances I have seen (goosebumps with "Little Faith") of these songs, and intertwined with the amazing visuals the location provides, it makes a haunting experience.

"Terrible Love"


"Anyone's Ghost"


"Little Faith"


The National. Since "Alligator", the best band on the planet.

"Win Win"....with The National

You probably noticed before... but I love The National. And they are contributing with the main theme for the soundtrack of "Win Win", the new film from Tom McCarthy, the filmmaker responsible of the great "The Station Agent" and the excellent "The Visitor", and with Paul Giamatti on the starring role.

March 18th is the premiere day in theaters, so we'll have to wait until then to hear the song. But for the impatient fan, if you go to www.foxsearchlight.com/winwin/ and let the background music play...you'll be counting the days until Friday, like me.

Well, and now to compensate this freaky post, here's the new video for "Conversation 16", the latest single from "High Violet", their third consecutive masterpiece.