''The National'' is the debut studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band the National, released on October 30, 2001 on

Brassland Records Brassland is an independent record label founded in 2001 by Alec Hanley Bemis, Aaron Dessner, and Bryce Dessner. History In Brassland's early years, Bemis worked as a freelance journalist for ''LA Weekly'' and ''The New York Times''. The Dessners ...

. Recorded prior to guitarist

Bryce Dessner Bryce David Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American composer and guitarist based in Paris, as well as a member of the rock band the National. Dessner's twin brother Aaron is also a member of the group. Together they write the music, in coll ...

's full arrival into the band, ''The National'' was produced by both Nick Lloyd and the band itself. Now-bass guitarist

Scott Devendorf Scott Devendorf is an American multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the bass guitarist for the American indie rock band The National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Devendorf is also a member of the indie rock project LNZND ...

performs both guitar and backing vocals on this album, with guitarist and multi-instrumentalist

Aaron Dessner Aaron Brooking Dessner (born April 23, 1976) is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member of the rock band the National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums; a co-founder of the indie ...

on bass guitar and guitar duties. The album features a more country-tinged sound in comparison to future albums. Lyrics from "29 Years" would later be used in "Slow Show" from the band's 2007 album, ''

Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

''.

Background and recording

The album features guest contributions from forthcoming member

, with his brother

Aaron According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

noting, "When we recorded

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

my brother wasn't even in the band. We made the record before we ever played a show. We did it just to do it."

Artwork

The album's front cover features drummer

Bryan Devendorf Bryan Devendorf is an American drummer. He is best known as a founding member of the indie rock band The National, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. Devendorf is also a member of the experimental rock bands Pfarmers and LNZNDRF. In ...

in a swimming pool.

Track listing

Personnel

The National

Matt Berninger Matthew Donald Berninger (, born February 13, 1971) is an American singer-songwriter, primarily known as the frontman and lyricist of indie rock band The National. In 2014, he also formed the EL VY project with Brent Knopf of Ramona Falls and ...

- lead vocals *

- bass guitar, backing vocals *

- guitar *

- drums *

- guitar

Additional musicians

*Mike Brewer *Nathalie Jonas *Nick Lloyd *Jeff Salem

Recording personnel

*Nick Lloyd - producer, recording, mixing *Mike Brewer - pre-production *Jeff Salem - pre-production *Ue Nastasi - mastering

Artwork

*Mauricio Carey - photography *Pope Rathman - photography

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National 2001 debut albums The National (band) albums Brassland Records albums