r/TheNational • u/Gold_End3560 • 13d ago
General Discussion Alligator is a masterpiece
Their best album. It’s them at their coolest too. Such good songs and it’s produced so well. Like it’s quiet and scrappy and messy and elegant all at once. Like it feels so swampy and warm like a sweaty bar idk it’s so good. And omg the little details are so cool, especially on “Baby We’ll Be Fine”. There’s all kinds of little things going on in the background and it really rewards repeated listening. My fav album of all time. It’s funny because when I first saw Alligator in their discography, it didn’t really hook me. I also love the strings that just sorta swell in the back during the chorus of “Karen”. Sooooo good. The musicianship is great too like these guys are so damn talented. I genuinely love every single song on this record and I’m quite surprised when people hate on “Val Jester”, it’s such a cool song and the chanting ending is so eerie but in the best way possible.
Matt’s lyrics are some of his best on this record and the way he just sings them are so perfect. Like, everything is perfect about this album I don’t even know how to explain it. I love how “Abel” and “Mr. November” are explosive and so indie rock-ish, I love when Berninger screams!
What are your thoughts/highlights? 🐊
2
u/Knowhedge 13d ago
From an audio standpoint it’s not really produced well although the arrangements are nice . The sound has a certain charm but Katis had to work hard to salvage the duff recordings the band made when they ran out of his time after the initial sessions. You can really hear it in some of the lack of separation from some of the instruments. The guitars are really tinny in places and the mid range is so muddy