The National - Laugh Track

Release Date:  September 18, 2023

The National are my favorite band. Yes, I will be bias.

Review:  It's interesting, leading up to Homecoming, I would see threads pop up on reddit that a new album was coming, but I didn't believe it. When they release Alphabet City and Space Invader, I thought it was a reminder to the fans of who they are because of the poor critical reception. It helps that I didn't overplayed these songs for when the album eventually released

"Alphabet City" is the opener and I can understand why it was chosen. It has this spacey SWB sound. Then "Deep End" has that familiar-ness sound. I always liked "Weird Goodbye" so I'm glad it has a home now. "Turn off the House" is one of those deep cuts that if it hits you, it hits you. I like that towards the end of the song, the music just grows bigger.

"Dreaming" is kind of boring. It sounds like they had an idea and they stretched it out to 4 minutes. "Laugh Track" is amazing. "Space Invader" sounded like "Eucalyptus" at times. People seem to love the outro to this song, but the novelty wore itself for me. "Hornets" is really pretty. I like how the song feels empty, but the melody creeps in on you.

"Coat on a Hook" is ok. "Tour Manager" is that lullaby song to tuck you in bed. "Crumble" is that alt-country vibe they had on SSFDL. and finally "Smoke Detector" is an interesting one, reminds me a lot of Joy Division.

Summary:  This is their 10th album and I imagine some people are wondering if they should have combined this with the last album and trim the fat. From Alligator to Sleep Well Beast, it always felt like the band was always going uphill. I can hear elements of their past work on this album, but I didn't feel like there were any All-Timers here. Still, I like it.

Favorite Songs: Laugh Track, Tour Manager, Crumble
Rating: 8/10