Criminally underrated, The National's sophomore outing is an absolute must in your collection. Only bettered by Alligator to date. Contains some of their best and mellowest tunes, as well as maintaining plenty of eargasmic rawness throughout, which sets it aside from much of their subsequent material. P.S. Berninger screaming is like the best thing ever.
Great album. Gritty stuff though. Self loating grim lyrics but sung with conviction. For me it is the first great album by this band who maintain this level for 3 albums after this one. Amazing!
