THE NATIONAL - First Two Pages Of Frankenstein, listens #3 and on

Although pop songs by definition each are self-contained pieces, I have become something of an album person, like many of us (virtual ink elsewhere has been spilled about the unexpected ways in which streaming has pushed people towards, rather than away from, listening to whole albums).  When getting to know a piece of music, I almost always listen to and digest it as a single work, with its tracks played in order.  Certainly these posts reflect that.  Some people are real nerds for track sequencing, and think about how alternative tracklistings might enhance a record, help some songs be their best, and so forth, while others - and I've usually been one of them - tend to figure if a song is good, it'll be good no matter what's before or after it.  If it sucks, same thing.  Specifically in regard to the National, discussing the moody unsettled run that makes the second half of Sleep Well Beast so special is really the only time I've ever considered the sequencing of their songs.

The reason I bring this up in relation to First Two Pages Of Frankenstein is that when listening to the record in order, I find my opinions of it follow a predictable pattern.  I feel better about it, then worse or at least indifferent, then appreciate individual tracks more than the project as a whole, then my opinion improves somewhat at the end.  The same sequence each time.

I don't just like the opening couple, they flat out put me in a good mood.  "Once Upon A Poolside" always stood out, but that piano line is killer, about as haunting and hypnotic as one can get when going minimalist.  I might actually like it better than the other big "piano line" song on the record, "Your Mind Is Not Your Friend," because the lyrics of the latter are a little annoying to me.  But then again, YMINYF just soars; it has a lot going on.  Anyway, both songs are irresistable in their ways, and thye get the record off to a solid start and (almost) end, respectively.  And speaking of irresistible, "Eucalyptus" has increasingly gotten stuck in my head as I've become willing to vibe with it; whatever the secret is to having a simple repetitive song benefit from the repetition rather than having it get old, they tapped into it here.  So, this is a great record, huh?

They didn't tap into that repetition magic elsewhere, though.  The National continue their recent tread of marring the early going of every record with one big dud, in this case "New Order T-Shirt."  I'm not sure I can properly describe how tedious I find the instrumentation combined with the song's lack of a discernible tune.  You know how I'm occasionally vaguely talking about "the bad parts of indie rock" like that's a phrase that actually means something?  Listen to "New Order T-Shirt."  The song bores for exactly the reasons "indie rock" generally bores me.  And dear elder gods, when will it end?  How are we still at the fucking Kentucky acquarium?

From that point in each listening I'm kind of in a pissy mood.  The exact moment the record wins me back is the second half of the first chorus of "Tropic Morning News."  The acceleration of the previous beat just sells the moment of a moment of clarity emerging out of mental fog, and from there, well, it rocks.  Tightly constructed song with a bunch of good parts that fit together better - vintage National stuff, really.  So, at that point I'm feeling quite good about First Two Pages.  My favorite second half of a song comes not even from my original favorite, though, but rather from "The Alcott."  If "The Alcott" takes a while to get going, it's because it's, I think deliberately, only half a song during the part in which Matt is the main voice.  Once it's Matt and Taylor doing the back and forth - damn.  Pairing those two is actually a downright inspired choice.  As established, I'm a fan of vocal melodies, so is too surprising I'd gravitate towards the song that has two good ones for the price of one?

I think the fact that I like "The Alcott" every time and blow hot and cold on "Grease In Your Hair" puts the lie to the idea that song sequencing really means much.  Depending on my mood I may appreciate the attempts to build a rock song out of that or may think it's a decidedly lesser effort... and given that I can't even call the song to mind at the moment, I'm gonna call it lesser.  And "Ice Machines" is decidedly mid (and too repetitious with what could've been some promising bits).  So those two tracks coming together sort of convince me that First Two Pages is a mid record overall.  A few good songs don't make a good album after all.  And then we do get to the last two songs to leave the listener with a good taste in their mouth.*  As above, I am a fan of YMINYF, and then "Send For Me" is quite pleasant.  I am thus left back to feeling like the record is an upper tier one, even if it's not an all-timer.  

So, that's it.  Up, then down, then up, then middling, then upper middling, every time.  A little weird that a record that's considerably shorter than the last few would still be so hit and miss and hit.  Makes me wonder what would happen if the National had gone on to surprise-drop another record just a few months later; I'm sure the world would've been filled with discussion about which tracks are the good ones and which ones could've been omitted.

Other thoughts:

- I wish I'd stuck with playing the piano (I was decent at one point).  Only so many hours in a life, though.

- Not really about this record, but I don't know if I'd appreciated how in-demand Aaron is in the general music sphere.  As I type this, the most recent episode of the podcast Song Exploder has Gracie Abrams talking about her lifelong National fandom but also about how great it is to have Aaron mixing her stuff and laying down guitar tracks, and at the same time there's chatter on social media has about how Aaron is the wrong producer for her... either way, he has a name and a distinctive sound from that side of the console.

 

Favorite track:  "The Alcott"

Runner up:  "Tropic Morning News"

Least favorite track:  "New Order T-Shirt"

Rating:  3.5/5

Definitive running list of records by the National that I have listened to in order of what I have decided is unambiguously their quality
1)  Sleep Well Beast

2)  Boxer

3)  Trouble Will Find Me

4)  High Violet

5)  Sad Songs For Dirty Lovers

6)  First Two Pages Of Frankenstein

7)  Alligator

8)  I Am Easy To Find

9)  The National

10)  Cherry Tree

 

Thoughts on Laugh Track, whenever I get around to it!

 

 

*Or ears.  However you want to do that metaphor.