The two tracks that stood out I already knew about as singles weeks or months ago. Otherwise, the Taylor Swift track seemed okay, but everything else felt so basic. I really don't understand The National. They've made so many songs I really like, and so many deeply average songs. It's just interesting they can persuade themselves with mediocre song foundations, taking them all the way through writing, recording, and qualifying for the album. For instance, the intro acoustic guitar lick on "Ice Machines": if I thought of that (not unlikely) I'd immediately discard it, unless I was forcing myself to take any fragment to the finish line as songwriting practice. I'm guessing the intro licks (always four bars) are the foundations for these songs' composition -- but why? So many of them are throwaway; some are rescued by Berninger or others along the way.
It's amazing they still seem hip, attracting younger mega-acts like Taylor, given their age and periodic cheesiness. I thought they abandoned that staleness in the dust swirls of the last album, but here they've regressed. This comes off as one of my least favorite National albums, though it's hard to tell yet. I do like those two tracks. I just don't understand why they dwell in bad pop progressions. They should all know better by now. They've transcended those so many times.
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