Indeed...

Also, why is everybody hatin' on The Hold Steady all of a sudden? I'll take them over The National ANY DAY.

In my mind, Spoon, Wilco and MMJ are above all the rest.

Hold Steady, DBT, M. Ward, Ted Leo and Black Keys are on the second tier.

Yeah the National can't compare to Wilco or MMJ because they A. Don't have enough material and B. Aren't even in the same hemisphere as a live act. That could certainly change.

DBT is a different beast where you can make an argument that it's not your thing or whatever and that's fine..no complaints there. They sort of exist on their own plain, if you will.

Spoon is probably a good thing for them to shoot for. Professional, consistent, a little safe, but 9/10 hitting the mark with quality songs and execution.

jesus Spoon bores the shit out of me. and I think the National is a much better live band than Wilco, whom I declined free tickets to see twice this month, but for both of them I like them best live when they sound least like themselves (i.e rock the fuck out).

and maybe this isn't fair, because I feel like Spoon deliberately gives their drummer nothing to do, whereas the National kind of let him wander, and it's really drumming that catches me.

I have no memory of what the National sound like other than that I didn't think they were anything special when I listened to some samples a few years ago.

as far as best american bands go, I'd have to go with Sonic Youth, Son Volt, the New Year, the Deadstring Bros with the Weight and the Henry Clay People as ones with small catalogs to watch.

It seems like I must be forgetting a big one but I guess I like a lot more solo acts than bands these days.

Agree with Bloor on DBT's being on their own plain. They'd be near the top based on their live show when they are on the top of their game but their recorded material is a bit too much of a mixed bag for me to really consider them one of the best.

Interesting that no one is pushing the Strokes or the White Stripes anymore.

Have you seen the National live recently? The one time I saw the national live, they killed it. I mean KILLED it. I still place that show in my top 5 live shows ever. This was during the boxer tour. Wilco I've seen twice, once 5 years ago with about 30,000 other people at an outdoor show and it was amazing. The second time was 2 months ago, in a smaller venue with about 2000 people, and although it was a little more mellow, it was still outstanding.

IMO, both these bands have their shit together when it comes to playing live.

And billy G, maybe the national just isn't your thing, but you should give them another chance sometime. I know when I first heard them, I wasn't impressed. They are definitely a band that grows on you. But once a song or two gets under your skin, you'll be hooked.

If you feel like giving them another go, stick to alligator to start out with. The song that turned me from a hater to a lover was Abel... and then the rest started to fall into place; Mr. November, All the Wine, City Middle... and eventually the whole of Alligator becomes a flawless record.

I can seriously play that album through, then start it again at track one and repeat the album. and repeat. and repeat.

Like I said, it might not be your bag, but if your feeling up to it, check out those 4 tracks and see what happens.

I'd certainly put the National's last two albums up pretty high in my list of best albums of the past few years, but their other albums are largely pretty boring. I am pretty optimistic about this next one, too.

Saw them live once and they were really, really good. However, they didn't have a ton of material to draw from, and I wouldn't put their live show in the same category as The Hold Steady, MMJ, or Drive by Truckers...but pretty comparable to the quality of the Spoon live shows I've seen (only seen twice).

The Hold Steady, lol. Why would anyone listen to these guys.

Drumming catches you and yet you turned down free Wilco tix twice? Mistake. I thought Glenn Kotche was a monster when I caught them the other night. If I wasn't watching Nels Cline play, I was keyed on him.

haven't seen wilco since the YHF days, but they were always fine. competent, good stage presence, professional.

sounds like rock and roll! oh wait now it sounds like strip mall tax preparation.

maybe they've gotten better. They stuck me on the last train to snoresville the one time I saw them.

yes

Stop failing Dale. They Rule.

I know everyone's shocked, but I agree with Yail -- The National is great, and deserves to be part of the conversation, but they're not actually the best band out there

Dudes; Lucero.

Seen them twice in the last month and they are on to some other shit these days.

Also - Lyle Lovett and The Large Band

good point. agree. saw them live only once but they were great.

. . . the National are a really good band, drummer kicks ass, singer can tend to start a snore fest because he sings like an author that needs a books-on-tape speaker. Granted it works well for a bunch of songs but not every song in a catalog being devoid of vocal tension makes for greatness in the end.

I'm guessing your Spoon and Wilco disrespect is outdated, ill informed or general dislike for comparison's sake.

The Hold Steady are a joke.

Also, as a dude who is not really a Wilco fan anymore, their live show is AMAZING. Stop Failing, Joey Crack. Great live band.

To Billy G: I am hoping The Strokes new album brings the awesome. They are in my top 5. Great band with a solid (if limited) catalogue)

I fear the Strokes all did their solo thing too soon, isn't this the point in the career when they are all supposed to hate each other and the tension ads to a messy and brilliant album? Fingers crossed.

I'm a bit of out the loop, so I don't know what's in the pipeline. At this stage, though, High Violet is my most-anticipated release of '10. After seeing them live in late '07, I put the National on my best-American-band shortlist, which includes DBT and Hold Steady but lacks Spoon.

The real champion is, of course, Mastodon.

"Falling from grace, I've been away too long"

Anyway, I have no real arguments with these responses. The Hold Steady I deem as one "minor" step below the National. Spoon, been TOO consistent, if you know what I mean. DBT, tried, but can't get. Mastodon is a beast of another color.