Trouble will Find Me – The National ★★★★

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2013	Trouble Will Find Me	The National	★★★★	86	Rock	Alternative Rock	Chamber Pop

Trouble Will Find Me might not be my all time favorite album by The National (I still think Boxer has the slight edge), but it probably best represents all there is to love about the band. 

Pleasant, up-beat songs with quick drums. Introspective, mid-tempo rock tracks. Memorable but not overpowering guitar parts. Beautiful chamber instruments that help the songs build in emotion and energy. Sad, singalong piano ballads about being drunk and broken hearted. And Matt Berninger’s baritone perfectly delivering poetic imagery. 

Every time the band puts out a record, there are a few standout tracks that quickly become part of my regular rotation, and Trouble will Find Me is no exception. “I Should Live In Salt” is a fabulous slow, building opening track. “Don’t Swallow the Cap” is an energetic single, with playful stings and backing vocals.  “Sea of Love,” “Graceless,” and “Humiliation” channel some of the rock energy energy from their previous albums, but feel right at home here on an album that has more warmth in its sounds overall. “Pink Rabbits” works as a great nightcap near the end of the record. 

Most of The National’s albums are on the longer side and inevitably have a few tracks I probably could have done without, but in my mind Trouble Will Find Me is their most consistent record start to finish. No individual track might be as iconically great as “Bloodbuzz Ohio” or “Mr. November,”  but every song is good, and each sounds exactly like what you’d want from The National.