THE NATIONAL: I NEED MY GIRL

MUSIC

Matt Berninger, the oaken baritone singer of The National, is like, as Pitchfork said: a Cary Grant interpretation of Leonard Cohen. Or I'd say: the Neil Diamond of indie rock.

The National is one of my most favourite music groups. On top 5 of my personal list of 13 Cult Bands You Must Worship Before You Die … Well, I guess they aren’t really that cult anymore. They won the Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Album in 2017. Meaning they’re pretty mainstream already, right? They’re still ultra cool, though.

To me, they are like the adult contemporary version of Interpol. The National are part indie rock aristocrats.

I supposed to go see them in March in Perth. But then apocalypse started to happen—fuck you, Covid.

I saw The National before in Singapore back in 2010 or 2011. I got hooked on them even more after the concert. Slick and sophisticated. Matt Berninger is like the Neil Diamond of indie rock. Or as Pitchfork said: a Cary Grant interpretation of Leonard Cohen.

The song here, “I Need My Girl”, is one of my most played songs from many of their beautiful compositions. It was released as a single in November 2013 (UK) and January 2014 (US). Listen to Berninger’s deep and rich, oaken baritone. It gives me chills every time listening to his voice.

The National, wrote MEMAAustixTX, have been one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the last decade. Touring worldwide and releasing album after album of challenging, intricate music, they have steadily risen to become among the most prominent voices in modern rock.

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Featured image via Brassland.
Main page photo via 4AD.

• Read also LIAM MCKAHEY: SO LONG, MARIANNE

Alternative & Punk, Matt Berninger, Rock 'n' Roll Storytelling, The National, Videoclip

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.

Rudolf Dethu

Music journalist, writer, radio DJ, socio-political activist, creative industry leader, and a qualified librarian, Rudolf Dethu is heavily under the influence of the punk rock philosophy. Often tagged as this country’s version of Malcolm McLaren—or as Rolling Stone Indonesia put it ‘the grand master of music propaganda’—a name based on his successes when managing Bali’s two favourite bands, Superman Is Dead and Navicula, both who have become two of the nation’s biggest rock bands.