The National

Studio Albums

1. 2001 The National
2. 2003 Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers
3. 2005 Alligator
4. 2007 Boxer
5. 2010 High Violet
6. 2013 Trouble Will Find Me
7. 2017 Sleep Well Beast
8. 2019 I Am Easy to Find
9. 2023 First Two Pages of Frankenstein
10. 2023 Laugh Track

Source: MusicBrainz

Deep Dive

Overview

The National is an American indie rock band formed in Brooklyn in 1999, though its members originate from Cincinnati, Ohio. The band centers on the distinctive baritone vocals of Matt Berninger paired with the intricate guitar work and arrangement sensibilities of twin brothers Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner, anchored by the rhythm section of brothers Scott Devendorf on bass and Bryan Devendorf on drums. Over more than two decades, they have established themselves as one of the most consistently ambitious and lyrically engaged acts in post-punk-inflected indie rock, building a body of work marked by literary sensibility, emotional restraint, and compositional craft.

Formation Story

The National coalesced in Brooklyn in 1999, drawing together members with Cincinnati roots. The core lineup—Berninger, Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Scott Devendorf, and Bryan Devendorf—established the instrumental and vocal chemistry that would define the band’s sound. The relocation to Brooklyn positioned them within the broader indie rock ecosystem of New York City in the late 1990s and early 2000s, a period marked by the rise of post-punk revivalism and art-rock ambition among independent bands. Their Cincinnati heritage remained part of their identity even as they became fixtures of the Brooklyn music scene.

Breakthrough Moment

The National’s early albums—The National (2001) and Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers (2003)—established their foundational approach but found limited audience. The genuine breakthrough came with Alligator (2005), which introduced the band’s mature musical identity to a wider audience. By the release of Boxer in 2007, the band had achieved significant critical recognition, and from that point forward they occupied a substantial position in indie rock discourse. Boxer marked a significant collaboration milestone: Carin Besser, Berninger’s wife, began writing lyrics for the band alongside him on this album, a partnership that would continue through subsequent releases.

Peak Era

The period from 2010 to 2013 represented the band’s commercial and critical apex. High Violet (2010) became their most successful album, cementing their status as one of indie rock’s most important contemporary acts. The follow-up, Trouble Will Find Me (2013), sustained that momentum, consolidating the band’s reputation for emotional depth and sophisticated arrangement. During these years, the band operated with full creative confidence, refining the interplay between Berninger’s narrative lyrics and baritone vocal delivery and the Dessners’ architectural approach to guitar and keyboard layering.

Musical Style

The National’s sound is rooted in post-punk and indie rock traditions but filtered through a distinctly literary and anxious sensibility. Berninger’s baritone sits low in the mix, treated as an instrument as much as a voice, often delivered with the restraint and emotional ambivalence of spoken-word performance rather than conventional singing. The twin Dessners construct complex guitar and keyboard arrangements that avoid both maximalist bombast and minimalist sparseness, preferring dense, interlocking textures and unconventional song structures. The rhythm section of the Devendorf brothers locks into grooves that are rhythmically precise yet emotionally tense, favoring propulsive forward motion over obvious hooks. Lyrically, the band explores urban anxiety, domestic life, ambition, failure, and the interior emotional states of middle-class men with a specificity and self-aware irony that set them apart from more earnest indie rock contemporaries. This approach evolved gradually across their albums, with each record representing incremental refinements and explorations of the same fundamental sensibility rather than dramatic reinvention.

Major Albums

Boxer (2007)

Boxer represented the band’s artistic coming-of-age, introducing the lyrical partnership with Carin Besser and establishing Berninger’s voice as the band’s primary emotional vector, with lyrics that balanced personal vulnerability and literary distance.

High Violet (2010)

The band’s most commercially successful album, High Violet refined the interplay between Berninger’s baritone and the Dessners’ architectural arrangements, achieving maximum accessibility without sacrificing compositional complexity or emotional reserve.

Sleep Well Beast (2017)

Released after a four-year gap, Sleep Well Beast saw the band returning with a sound that incorporated electronic production and hip-hop-adjacent rhythmic approaches, marking a subtle shift in their sonic palette while maintaining their core identity.

I Am Easy to Find (2019)

This album expanded the band’s collaborative impulses, integrating contributions from outside musicians and producers while exploring new textural possibilities and continuing their investigation of emotional subtlety and vulnerability.

First Two Pages of Frankenstein (2023)

The band’s tenth studio album demonstrated their continued vitality and willingness to explore new sonic and thematic territory in the third decade of their existence.

Signature Songs

• “Bloodbuzz Ohio” — A key track that exemplifies Berninger’s low-register delivery and the band’s ability to construct emotionally resonant narrative from minimal lyrical material.
• “Fake Empire” — A signature moment from Boxer that established the band’s approach to orchestrated intimacy and urban anxiety.
• “About Today” — Demonstrates the band’s capacity for emotional directness and their skilled use of restraint and dynamics.
• “Terrible Thing” — Showcases the interplay between Berninger’s vocal placement and the Dessners’ guitar arrangements in constructing emotional architecture.

Influence on Rock

The National’s influence on contemporary indie rock and post-punk revival movements is substantial. Their approach to baritone vocals and literary lyrics offered an alternative to the conventional indie rock vocal aesthetic and helped establish a broader acceptance of the speaking voice as a valid emotional vector in rock music. The band’s compositional sophistication and architectural approach to arrangement influenced numerous bands working in indie rock, alt-rock, and experimental music throughout the 2010s. Their demonstration that commercial success and critical credibility were not mutually exclusive for bands embracing complexity and emotional restraint rather than explosive displays of technical prowess provided a template for countless contemporaries and subsequent acts.

Legacy

The National remains an active and vital presence in rock music more than two decades after their formation. Their 2023 releases of First Two Pages of Frankenstein and Laugh Track demonstrated their continued capacity for artistic renewal and their enduring relevance to audiences and critics. The band’s catalog has become foundational to understanding indie rock’s evolution across the 2000s and 2010s, with albums like Boxer and High Violet receiving sustained critical appreciation and discovering new audiences through streaming platforms. The incorporation of Carin Besser as a lyrical voice in the songwriting process became emblematic of the band’s collaborative ethos, influencing broader conversations about creative partnership and gender representation in rock songwriting. Their longevity without significant lineup changes has made them one of the more stable and artistically consistent acts in contemporary rock.

Fun Facts

• Touring members Ben Lanz and Kyle Resnick have been fixtures of The National’s live performances for many years, effectively functioning as permanent fifth and sixth members despite not being listed as core band members.
• The band’s official website, americanmary.com, maintains an unconventional address that diverges from the typical band-name URL, reflecting their broader aesthetic of subtle nonconformity.
• Matt Berninger’s wife, Carin Besser, has been a writing partner since Boxer (2007), making The National a rare example of a major rock band centered on an established romantic partnership’s creative collaboration.
• The band’s membership consists almost entirely of family relations: the Dessner twins, the Devendorf brothers, and Berninger, creating an unusually tight-knit working unit.