The National
Trouble Will Find Me
Beggars Banquet
Street: 05.21
The National = Bob Dylan + Frightened Rabbit + Death Cab for Cutie
Disclaimer: I really wanted to like this release. Second disclaimer: I fucking loathed it. After being turned on to the overly dreary and somewhat whiny likes of The National shortly after they released the album Alligator, they became—over the course of two albums—one of my favorite bands. Then they released the painfully boring and self-serving High Violet in 2010, and for all intents and purposes, I wrote them off. But, when given the chance to review their latest angst-ridden offering, Trouble Will Find Me, I figured I’d give them another chance. Fuck, one of the worst mistakes I’ve ever made. While early material from The National was almost comically pretentious and seemed like the kind of music twenty-somethings who refer to themselves as "cutters" would absolutely adore, they at least had charm and wrote catchy, almost perversely fun music. With Trouble Will Find Me, however, the band’s pretentiousness takes center stage, and it’s embarrassingly apparent how in love with themselves they are. I wish I could have that hour of my life back. -Gavin Hoffman