The National are a band of New Yorkers transplanted from Cincinnati, Ohio: Matt Berninger, 

Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner, Bryan Devendorf, and Scott Devendorf. What each 

member of the band does is not that important, but what they do together seems increasingly 

more so… 

When last we heard from The National, they’d released and toured behind their Beggars 

Banquet debut, Alligator, an album whose reception closely mirrored the kind of sounds they 

made on record—it started out quiet, and ended up very, very loud. Alligator became one of 

the most widely discussed and critically acclaimed independent albums of 2005—“album of 

the year” to one Los Angeles Times critic. It also earned top marks in a poll of America’s 

bloggeratti and rapturous reviews throughout the U.S. and Europe. (Uncut, selecting it as an 

album of the month, called the record "their first masterpiece.") More importantly, The National 

became an object of growing obsession among a thriving community of fans—strands of their 

lyrics decorated MySpaces; during shows, audience members sang along in unison, echoing 

through concert halls; news of celebrity admirers like Bruce Springsteen shot across the 

interwebs. The National became famous in an alternate universe—one where the gossip rags 

talk about the people you actually care about.