Vinyl Record

The National - Laugh Track

The National - Laugh Track on 2LP vinyl. A 2023 record currently sold out at Kilmorna Collection in Listowel, Ireland.

2LP · 2023

Sold out at Kilmorna Collection, retained online as part of the catalogue archive.

Laugh Track is The National's second 2023 album, and it feels like the room after First Two Pages Of Frankenstein has finally been opened to air, crowd noise and risk. Announced around the band's Homecoming weekend in Cincinnati and released with unusual speed, it carries material sharpened by recent touring and sessions with producer Tucker Martine in Portland. That matters because the record often moves with a different body language: Alphabet City glows rather than collapses, Deep End has patient ache, Weird Goodbyes brings Bon Iver into one of the band's most direct late-period farewells, and Space Invader stretches into a long electric surge that reminds listeners how powerful The National can be when they let a song run past neat resolution. Phoebe Bridgers appears on the title track, Rosanne Cash deepens Crumble, and Smoke Detector closes the album as a ragged, talk-sung sprawl. Laugh Track is not a tidy sequel; it is the companion record that lets the band's 2023 uncertainty become motion, interruption and live-wire release.

Laugh Track matters because it changed the story of The National's 2023 from a single fragile comeback into a two-part portrait. Where First Two Pages Of Frankenstein often sounded inward, Laugh Track restores friction, touring energy and longer-form release, proving the band still had unfinished business in the same year.

For collectors, Laugh Track is crucial because it completes the 2023 diptych. It also contains late-period songs that feel built for the stage, especially Space Invader and Smoke Detector. On a shelf, it works as the rougher, more outward-facing counterpart to First Two Pages Of Frankenstein.

Late-period National with live-tested momentum, piano haze, electronic detail, slow-burn guitar eruptions, guest vocals and a looser ending stretch that edges toward improvisational rock.

Recommended for: Collectors completing The National's two-album 2023 run; Fans who prefer the band's live energy and longer builds; Listeners drawn to melancholy indie rock with rougher edges.

When was Laugh Track released? Laugh Track was released in 2023 as The National's second studio album of that year. Which guest artists appear on Laugh Track? Bon Iver appears on Weird Goodbyes, Phoebe Bridgers appears on Laugh Track, and Rosanne Cash appears on Crumble. How does Laugh Track differ from First Two Pages Of Frankenstein? Laugh Track feels looser and more performance-driven, with bigger builds and a rougher finish, while First Two Pages Of Frankenstein is more restrained.