National Product – Luna


Band: National Product
Album: Luna
Genre: Rock/Pop Rock
Label: R&M

Tracks:
1. By All Means
2. Collision
3. Medicated
4. Love Me
5. Sad Excuse
6. Valentine
7. Paper and Ink
8. Where Do You Go
9. Quay
10. November Night
11. Sean Song
12. Explode

There has been a huge swell in the number of bands with synth, tight jeans, and elegantly disheveled hair and National Product fit perfectly into this mix, but there is a twist. Unlike the majority of those acts, National Product has a foundation of really solid music that practically sells itself. Luna, the debut album for the band is an intensely well crafted work that instantly catapults the band into a high position in the current “scene” and shows great promise of a stunning future.

Luna begins with the single, “By All Means,” which wastes no time unleashing the full rock potential of National Product. It’s quick, catchy, and the perfect way to start the album as well as introduce you to the band. “Collision,” the following track starts off with simple chord work on a lone guitar before the soothing vocals enter with a simple yet pulsing drum beat. It’s nothing too out of the norm for pop rock, but it’s done quite well. Actually, there’s never a track on the entire album that I can say I feel the need to skip. There are some weak ones [like, “Medicated,” or, “Valentine,”], but the flow is too good to deny. The fourth song, “Love Me,” finds the band introducing some acoustic elements, but the results fall a bit flat. It’s solid, but probably won’t be one you repeat too often. The real gold winner of this album, which may be one of the single best tracks I’ve heard all year is, “Sad Excuse,” which comes in as the fifth track. Everything about this song is perfect, from the riff, to the incredibly infectious chorus, “”swear on this knife that you never loved me, never never loved me because if thats the truth push it through me, push it push it through me.” The vocals soar as do the guitars and you will find yourself anxiously looking for the lyrics before the song even finishes it’s initial spin. As the album starts on it’s second half, we find the hard, “Paper and Ink,” which seems to hint at some elements of the Used, but with a more marketable sound. Seriously, why these guys aren’t headlining around the country nightly is oblivious to me. We find National Product returning to acoustic instruments on the strong ballad, “Where do You Go, “which plays to the tale of unrequited love, but from the perspective of an ex lover. It’s a solid soft track and shows the bands ability to change things up well. The next couple tracks are not too outstanding individual, but are solid tracks nonetheless. We then come to the perfectly titled finale, “Explode,” which, well…explodes from your stereo and grabs you for one last dance before saying farewell. I’m someone who puts a lot of emphasis on intro and closing tracks and this album does both very well.

National Product do not introduce a lot of new ground on Luna. In fact, a lot of the music and subject matter is well worn for this genre, but the soaring vocals, tight instrumentation, and amazing production makes it all seem so fresh the you can’t help being pulled into it. National Product is the jolt that this over populated music scene has needed. They are the breath of life that has been needed for quite some time and I for one can’t wait to see what they do next.

*Written By: James Shotwell*
GRADE: 7.5/10

James Shotwell
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