Pitchfork: The National Prep Third Album, European Tour

The National Prep Third Album, European Tour

To celebrate the release of their third album, Alligator, on April 12th, Brooklyn-based heartbreak chroniclers the National will spend this spring traipsing around Western Europe for a change. The band has posted the new album's tracklist on its website, and rather than snatching curious web-surfers from them, we'd like to think we're enticing people to visit the site by reprinting the tracklist here:

01 Secret Meeting
02 Karen
03 Lit Up
04 Looking for Astronauts
05 Daughters of the Soho Riots
06 Baby, We'll Be Fine
07 Friend of Mine
08 Val Jester
09 All the Wine
10 Abel
11 Geese of Beverly Road
12 City Middle
13 Mr. November

But first, the National have to get down to business and play a few shows in the U.S. in anticipation of the album's release on Beggar's Banquet (their first for the venerable label), including a SXSW showcase that will include French Kicks, Earlimart, SOUND Team, and the Rogers Sisters. They will even dare to tread through the Research Triangle during March Madness, but after they recover from that, the band will rest up for a month or so before heading off to the fairer continent.

There are still a few shows to be announced, so keep checking the band's website if you're interested; you'll notice a distinct shortage of festival appearances for a European spring tour. true, The National will hit up the Printemps de Bourges Festival with The Go! Team, and the Botanique Festival in Belgium, but other than that, it's just your Sidecars and Rockstores and whatnot. Details:

03-14 Columbus, OH - Little Brother's
03-15 Louisville, KY - Uncle Pleasant's
03-17 Austin, TX - Buffalo Billiards (SXSW)
03-20 Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder
03-21 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
03-22 Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
04-19 London, England - Barfly
04-21 Bourges, France - Le Printemps de Bourges Festival
04-22 Marseille, France - Le Poste a Galene
04-25 Paris, France - Le Cafe de La Danse
04-26 Poitiers, France - Le Confort Moderne
04-27 Bourdeaux, France - Barbey
04-28 Montpellier, France - Rockstore
04-29 Toulouse, France - Les Marins D'Eau Douce
04-30 Nantes, France - L'Olympic
05-01 Perpignan, France - El Castell Embruixat
05-02 Perpignan, France - El Castell Embruixat
05-04 Madrid, Spain - Moby Dick
05-05 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar
05-07 Freiburg, Germany - Jos Fritz Cafe
05-08 Munich, Germany - Atomic Cafe
05-11 Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
05-12 Brussels, Belgium - Rotonde (Botanique Festival)
05-13 Frankfurt, Germany - Batschkapp