Horns Heighten A Sometimes Ho-hum Rock Recital

Sydney Morning Herald

Wednesday January 23, 2008

Reviewed by Kelsey Munro

INDIE

THE NATIONAL

City Recital Hall, January 21

THE City Recital Hall is more accustomed to hosting the Australian Chamber Orchestra than New York rock bands, so this was a bold choice of venue by the Sydney Festival. In terms of atmosphere it produced mixed results, but no one could complain about the acoustics.

The incongruity of the place was not lost on Matt Berninger, the Brooklyn band's singer, who made nervous jokes in the pin-drop silence between songs. His parents, Berninger said, would understand why he had quit his day job if they saw him playing in such a grand hall.

The six-piece have released four albums in nine years and cultivated a decent indie fan base, particularly since 2005's Alligator. Still, they are better-known in the US than here, and three nights at Angel Place seemed ambitious.

There were some ho-hum moments in their set, but there were many great ones too, particularly in the rockier numbers and when the band was joined by horn players.

The addition of bassoon, saxophone, trumpet and trombone really lifted the songs to something special.

Berninger's deadpan baritone has earned the National comparisons with the hushed soulfulness of the English band Tindersticks. Live, they occasionally resemble the New York rockers Interpol, as in the driving Mistaken For Strangers. But Berninger's odd, off-beat phrasing has distant echoes of Pavement. And in the late-night desolation of songs like Fake Empire - which starts slow but soon catches fire - there are touches of the Welsh band the Manic Street Preachers and even hints of U2's anthemic style.

Berninger's tense body language makes him a singular performer. When he sings he keeps his arms wrapped around himself, as if afraid they might fly off. But he was at his best when he really let go, on songs such as the intense Abel. Then, during the encore's second song, he unexpectedly threw himself into the front rows of the audience, singing as he clambered over people and chairs. It's an almost-stock rock manoeuvre - one that still works almost every time - but in the staid environment of the Recital Hall it was unexpectedly exhilarating.

The first band, Clogs, a mainly instrumental group including some members of the National, better suited the venue with their unusual arrangements of violin, vibraphone and bassoon. Clogs also offered a clue to the more ambitious elements in the National's sound. Still, I'm not convinced the National are succeeding with those ambitions - at least not all the time.

© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald

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