Claude says:The National left their day jobs for Alligator in 2005, the breakout record that put the Brooklyn-via-Cincinnati band on the map with Beggars Banquet. Matt Berninger's baritone rolls through tightly wound indie rock that's equal parts post-punk tension and Americana undertow — guitars chime and churn, pianos slip in underneath, and the rhythm section holds it all in a coiled simmer. You grabbed onto it hard in January 2009, wearing out "Abel," "All the Wine," and "Lit Up" in a single month before moving on.