Mr. November
The National
If "Bloodbuzz Ohio" is the National at a controlled simmer, this is the same band at full boil, and the contrast is almost startling. The song builds slowly enough that you don't notice the pressure accumulating, and then the guitars open up and Berninger's voice loses its characteristic composure and he is shouting — actually shouting — and it is one of the most cathartic moments in their catalogue. The production is dense and slightly distorted in the way of a room that has too many people in it and too much feeling. The lyrical terrain is political and personal at once, an address to some ideal of leadership or courage that the singer is partly asking for and partly claiming for himself. It was written during a specific American political anxiety but it speaks past that moment into something older about wanting someone to stand up. You don't reach for this one during quiet times. You reach for it when something needs to break open, when the controlled version of yourself has been in charge too long and needs to be relieved.
fast
2000s
dense, distorted, overwhelming
American indie / political rock
Indie Rock, Art Rock. Chamber post-punk. defiant, cathartic. Builds from controlled, measured restraint until the pressure breaks open into raw, unguarded shouting.. energy 8. fast. danceability 5. valence 5. vocals: baritone male, escalates from measured to raw shouted intensity. production: dense distorted guitars, layered orchestral underpinning, pressurized mix. texture: dense, distorted, overwhelming. acousticness 2. era: 2000s. American indie / political rock. When something needs to break open and the controlled version of yourself has been in charge too long.