National are two sets of brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf, plus singer Matt Berninger. They hail from Cincinnati have relocated to NYC to seize the moment. Abel is a taster from their new LP Alligator.

It's a heady brew - a dense maze of roller coaster guitars that chime and nag. Berninger's vocals start as a shredded scream and slide into a deep croon. A clever inversion of the quiet-loud-quiet Nirvana dynamic. Chalk outlines of Nick Cave in Birthday Party mode and long neglected Australian poets the Triffids and American Music Club can be glimpsed on the rain soaked sidewalks. A New York marriage of Leonard Cohen and the grimy smeared guitars of Sonic Youth. It's Micha P Hinson fronting The Afghan Whigs.

The single contains two non-album tracks. Driver, Surprise Me, is more Lamb Chop, built as it is on a delicate whispering melody and homecoming drums. Keep it Upstairs circles round a set of gently distorted chords and neon organ washes. As an EP it's great, and if the album is up to this standard, it should be breathtaking.