The National

iTunes Review

The husky, flattened intonations of The National’s lead vocalist Matt Berninger are the ideal vehicle for this Brooklyn band’s lovelorn country-inflected rock, and though the group would manage to refine its sound and increase its critical and commercial stature over the course of subsequent releases, few of its albums see Berninger’s voice utilized quite as effectively as on this 2001 self-titled debut. This is due, at least in part, to the album’s cavernous sound, which emphasizes echo laden percussion at the expense of other instruments, inadvertently recapturing the compellingly lo-fi quality of classic recordings like Dylan’s Basement Tapes and Leonard Cohen’s Songs of Love & Hate. Judging from the songwriting on The National, which proficiently mimics the work of a host of indie luminaries, from Stephen Malkmus to Jeff Tweedy, the band had no such lofty comparisons in mind. But the album’s sparse production and hushed, midnight ambience raise it above run-of-the-mill indie rock to which it is often compared. Though it’s less beloved than some of the group’s later recordings, The National may be this outfit’s finest moment.