The National - Sleep Well Beast 2017
The National really blew my mind with High Violet. Also, I really love the song Tin Man by Future Islands. I only bring that up because I often confuse Future Islands with The National. This is all important information to know prior to the live review. Saddle up folks, it's time to press play.
1) nobody else will be there : Ah yea. Okay - it's so relaxed. Songs that build with beat and piano are awesome. They let the voice come in so cleanly. I appreciate that sort of thing because it draws attention to the lyrics and singing. Yea, okay - so, I think the reason I confuse Future Islands and The National is because the voices can be similar as long as the Future Islands singer doesn't do the monster voice (which I love). This is a nice gentle song to ease me into the album - that said, if the whole album is like this, then I'll be asleep in a couple songs or I'll be marveling at how amazing the lyrics are. The lyrics in this song are meh, but let's give it a shot. It's wild - okay, this dude is singing about sticking his neck out and was expecting someone to be there to back his play, but "nobody else will be there". I don't know... if you are sticking your neck out to do something crazy, can you really expect someone to always back your play? If they don't, are they betraying you? The True Believer type might say - yea... of course, you do it no matter what because the relationship is more imporant.... gah. song over.
2) day i die : Where will we be on the day I die? For me, I'm hoping to be lost at sea. I've never sailed a day in my life and my direction sense is beyond poor, so getting lost at sea should be pretty easy. Okay, gotta give me something more than repeating "the day I die, the day I die - where will we be?" I'm really starting to hate this song. I think he wrote one line (which isn't that good or profound) and tried to force a song around it. His voice just wants to be intimate and the squealy guitars try to set an edge... and then.. hell I don't know. Not a fan.
3) walk it back : I bet the singer loves the sound of his own voice. Who does that? I hate the sound of my own voice if I hear it. FUUUUUUUUUCK Stop repeating lines like that over and over. walk it back walk it back walk it back walkitb back walkbackit walkybackyity. wolakdlfkasdlkfajsdhfbackalsdf. Nothing I change changes anythings/I won't let it : here's an idea.. if letting it means you stop saying walk it back walk it back walk it back over and over, then change it. do it now.
4) the system only dreams : Whoa - okay this is the High Violet sound. I wonder if this is a holdover from High Violet. I love it when artists evolve beyond a previous album, but that said - I really love this sound. Bonus here is that there isn't any repeating phrases so far. The guitar chiming in at random intervals could... be gone and this would be really intriguing. That's just a minor gripe though - okay wait, they build it into a guitar solo - I guess it was there just to make an easy transition into a relatively unimpressive (yea, I don't play guitar) solo. Wait.. that's.. that's how you want to end it. Suddenly, I'm reminded of Mistaken for Strangers.
5) born to beg : Annnnnnd we appear to be back to repeating phrases over and over. something something tea kettle something born to beg. born to beg. Gah! I like the sounds and music, but tea kettle begging isn't really cutting it here.
6) turtleneck : electric guitar and a menacing sound to the beat? check. We're upbeat now. He's not talking about an actual turtle neck shirt though - he's talking about - well, it's not a literal turtle's neck. I'm ... not .. sure what is happening. It's turtles.. All I know is that we have to get the turtle neck. get it.
7) empire line : This is so much better than the last song, but still sounds like a B side from High Violet. There's not much more to comment on - lyrically, it's not really all that interesting, but at least it's not something repetitive. Oooo - it's almost a theremin sound, but it's not that. Something else. Damn, now I'm not sure - is it a theremin? I can't tell for sure. I'll have to look it up later. I just assumed it was a string instrument at first, but I'm not sure.
i'll still destroy you : This song started out okay, but halfway through I really started digging it. Now, I really can't wait to listen to it again. Put your heels against the wall/seems like you are a little taller/ i will still destroy you. I really like that sequence and the delivery is really well done. Wait. why are we in a drum thing. Hmm not sure about the end, but it might work. Really liking this song. Going to listen to this again after the review.
guilty party : The piano work for The National is really solid. I like how they use the piano to set up an easy lead into a vocal thread, then transition that into a different direction. I think it's accompanied by a clarinet or something here. Really working together here. It's a complimentary piece to the music and it's providing depth to the lyrics instead of competing to be heard. The song before and this song might be the best parts of the album that aren't cut High Violet songs. Still a few songs to go, but I think we're in the meat of the album. Basically it's meh before turtleneck, then turtleneck... and now we're into something different.
carin at the liquor store : Piano lead. yea, I wouldn't mind if they did most of their stuff this way. Most songs end up different, but it's such a great foundational way to start. I probably would get annoyed after a while, but it feels like a great opening sequence that is limitless. Annnnd I'm 99% sure he just mentioned John Cheever, but not completely sure. Seems somewhat out of place, but maybe he had just got done reading some short stories. Space guitar! Yea, I really like piano/space guitar. Weeeeeeeeee!
dark side of the gym : I mean.. you know you're fucking around when you replace "moon" with "gym", I guess. But why? I can't tell if this is a grown up gym or a high school gym and the narrarator is a creepy gym teacher obsessing over an adoring student. Which... is worse. There's a juvenile quality to the music that keeps me thinking about a gym class thing. I would think it's just teenage love, but what kid is so confident that they can say "I'm going to keep you in love with me for a while". Maybe they exist... but if they do, I don't want to meet them. It's sounds predatory... but maybe it's just a gym - gym type of gym. Gah! who knows. now it's crazy. I don't know what the hell is happening.
sleep well beast : Seems pretty rare to see a title song appear so late. Always makes me feel like they really liked the phrase, but couldn't get a legit song around it. So far... that's exactly what's happening here. we're back to repeating shit... and kinda mumbling. Nothing says I'm confident in this song like repetitive mumbling. It's really a long song. I feel like it's a background song. Mostly because I was listening to it in the background. It does have a nice fade though. Not all that exciting. I'll stand by my original assessment of the song.
Welp, some good, some not as good. Turtleneck was a real low point for me. I'll probably hear it a few more times, get irritated, and forward to the good part of the album. It's unlikely that it will ever grow on me. I think it would be fun to figure out where The System Only Dreams should fit in High Violet... so that might be my takeaway.
Overall, I'd say 4.25 turtles out of 6.15. Pretty strong delivery.
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