Just in case you missed it… The National’s release Alligator does the seemingly impossible, matching light with dark, fast with slow, and beauty with ugly. Released in 2005, and following the best album of 2003, Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers, this CD went widely un-bought, much to my dismay. This CD is amazing for many reasons, but none more so than the urgency that is felt behind the lyrics, and the subtle cries of perverse actions in the innocence of the music. Most striking is when Berninger sings on Karen that “Karen, we should call your father, maybe it's just a phase/ He'll know the trick to get a wayward soul to change his ways/It's a common fetish for a doting man/ to ballerina on the coffee table cock in hand.” The baritone in his voice adds a bit of force while at the same time simplicity to what he’s saying. And this is what I love about this CD. I’ve owned it for two years, and every time that I listen to it, something new revels itself to me. Just the other day I caught how Berninger sang on “City Middle” that “I have weird memories of you / Wearing long red socks and red shoes/ I have weird memories /I have weird memories of you/ Pissing in a sink, I think/ I have weird memories of you.” The CD continues to open up, even after you’ve been listening to it for so long. It’s amazing that something this old, after so many listens, continues to give new things to the listener. If you love music, and you don’t own this album, ask yourself “why not?” The National has yet to release a bad CD, but in all their glory, this is the best one. It offers itself up in a way that is both endearing and off-putting, which is peculiar. Listening to this CD is like seeing something you know you shouldn’t, while at the same time really enjoying it, and those feelings that are associated. Buy it, you won’t regret it. |
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