Cosmic Vinegar

In response to Steven Hyden’s interview with The National as published in Grantland, part of the media frenzy leading up to the band’s sixth album.

I have three central responses to this interview. First, the writing is preposterous:

“[The band's lead singer, Matt Berninger's] probing, nasally baritone casts a noir mystique over this mundane Wednesday afternoon. The overcast sky seems a little darker, and the stale taxi air palpably sensitive yet brawny; after a while our dialogue starts to resemble a fatally long-winded B side.”

I’ll give you a few seconds to reread that sentence. No, it’s not from a college newspaper imagining an interview with The National. That’s real. That moment happened and that’s how music journalist Steven Hyden recreated it in his mind’s eye. Seriously, it’s like he wrote that as if he were writing The National lyrics.

Second, there’s extended discussion about The National being indie–which they are–in this forum, which is not (Grantland being wholly owned by ESPN being majority-owned by Disney). Ergo, the entire discussion about their success revolves around money:

Now, 12 years later, the National is more popular than the Strokes and nearly every other rock band in the city. This can be quantified in ways that don’t really matter (Trouble is expected to debut in Billboard’s Top 5), in ways that sort of matter (the National will headline the 18,000-seat Barclays Center, which is just up the road from Aaron’s house, in June), in ways that probably matter to the band members (Trouble will almost certainly be well reviewed by critics), and in the only way that truly matters for a band of its ilk (there are several thousand people in many of the world’s major cities who will pay to see the National live, no matter what they think of the new record, simply because the band has a beloved back catalogue).

So that’s chart topping i.e. sales, huge concert i.e. sales, critical success leading to additional sales, and thousands of people the world over ready to be sold to. Meanwhile, any sense of artistic growth has been shunted: “[the new album] is the most National-like National album yet, almost defiantly so.” I didn’t realize it was “defiant” to be status quo, thanks for clearing that up Hyden. You know something is fishy when stagnation is presented as risk.

Finally, with The National’s impending monetary windfall examined at length, when Hyden manages to actually talk to them about art (or as he calls it, “muso-speak about asymmetrical time signatures”) the entire discussion devolves into generalities:

“Aaron and Bryce always avoid strumming their guitars for whatever reason,” Berninger says. “The idea of a strum for them, it seemed easy and pedestrian. But this time, I was like, ‘Just strum your guitar — you don’t have to fingerpick everything.’

While Berninger is uttering these banalities–I highly doubt the most contentious part of recording this album was whether or not to strum–the ‘journalist’ is nowhere to be found, letting the bandmates actually deliberate the pros and cons of strumming a guitar. Rather than really unpacking strumming versus plucking, Hyden takes their statements at face value. Rather than exploring how Berninger brought the guitarists to his side, perhaps what had changed for them that allowed them to let go of plucking, we ignore the opportunity for any deep talk about artistic decisions and representations.

Perhaps looking for more in an interview like this is hoping for southern barbecue at an Olive Garden. But if that’s the case, why act like there’s some hallowed aspect of The National? Why pump it up with “noir mystique”? Oh right: Because Steven Hyden is an unashamed fan:

The National is the greatest contemporary example of a dying archetype: the self-contained, interdependent, integrity-obsessed, artistically consistent, smart but not pretentious, likably humble, and reliably durable rock band.

Can we just call them the Brett Favre of indie rock and be done with it?

This is a fluff interview conducted by a fan of a band that is about to make a ton of money, all the while the band is held out as a shining beacon of indie art and everything that is Right With Rock. The actual art portion of the music is glided over as “subconscious” and “intellectual”, and hard factual discussion is limited to examining just how much fucking money they are about to make.

This is not how we should talk about art.

Art–especially rock and roll, but all art–is meant to stimulate discussion about society through statements and counterpoints. All this interview states is “We’re two slightly graying dads born in the ’70s”. Of course, on some meta level it’s arguing why corporate media is worthless, but that’s probably giving Grantland way too much credit.

Bonus fourth terrible thing: The entire final section, wherein Hyden asks the lead singer if he’s a Game of Thrones fan. What in the fucking fuck. This is an arts interview?

In conclusion, I give the new National album Trouble Will Find Me an 8.2.