The National - Alligator

One of the most enduring bands of the decade, The National’s slow-burn rise to success was a pleasing antidote to the ‘firework careers’ of any number of inferior bands. Alligator established them as a sort of American Tindersticks. It’s a late-night, boozy delight to be played at 3am when the party is thinning out. Plenty of whiskey gets spilt along the way by a cast of Raymond Carver-esque characters: deluded Californians, lost souls and, most memorably, Karen’s father with his tendency to "ballerina on the coffee table, cock-in-hand". (Shane Murphy)