I guess that The National Reserve could be a part of the national park system. Or maybe something related to the military. Right? Well, sure, but The National Reserve is also a music group. A really good music group from Brooklyn.
I first heard them on WXPN a month or so ago. And the catchy song that XPN played over and over again was New Love, which is, well, really catchy. And really good. So I bought The National Reserve's new album, called Motel LaGrange, during the presale period. And, just yesterday, the full album arrived digitally.
And what else happened yesterday? Well, The National Reserve did a 35 minute XPN Free-at-Noon concert. Playing mostly songs from their new album, mixed in with some older songs (that I had never heard), The National Reserve put on a really great, old fashioned rock and roll show. Fronted by lead singer Sean Walsh, the group included Sean's electric (mostly) rhythm guitar, an outstanding lead guitarist, a stay-in-the-background bass player, a keyboard player who kinda looked like he just got out of bed, and a terrific drummer.
According to Sean Walsh, the group plays in the same bar in Brooklyn every Friday night (unless they're booked somewhere else). I don't know what bar that is, but I'll find out when I'm next in Brooklyn on a Friday - - although I have a feeling that this group is about to seriously take off, so their days of actually being regularly available to play in their local bar in Brooklyn may be numbered. They're already booked to play at XPN's festival in July, which is a big deal. And I have a feeling that a serious national tour is not far away. Yes, they're really that good.
We could feature New Love today. But, since XPN plays that song so often, let's feature another song - - a song called I'll Go Blind. It's a sweet song that The National Reserve rocked up yesterday. But this version of 'll Go Blind is an acoustic version with Sean Walsh, the group's drummer and a keyboard player (who was not with the group at yesterday's Free-at-Noon).
I would have liked to have included a version of this song with the group's really good lead guitar player, but I could not find one online. If I find one, I'll add it to this post. In the meantime, as a bonus, here's the studio version of I'll Go Blind.