Never been too sure if there’s any real depth to stupid-stitions that revolve around Friday the 13^th, although there was a close relative that would avoid going to work whenever there was one. The rest of the family would chalk that up to just being an idiot because that’s the way it always seemed. Who am I to argue with that logic? There have been a minimal amount of releases that dripped and dropped today, aside from the larger-than-life names like Snoop and others.

But there is The National which didn’t necessarily release new material but instead dropped the live album Rome, recorded in, well, Rome, Italy. It’s a double LP release and yeah, it’s probably what you would expect from the band with over-the-top horns within emotionally charged songs that anyone could appreciate. The band isn’t short on style or grace and even as it charges through “Bloodbuzz Ohio,” we hear the effect it has on its audience, half a world away, singing along to the words. Yes it’s beautiful and the thought of the band as seasoned musicians might hit you like a freight train. The band has been together since 1999(!) and it shows in its brilliance. Rome contains 21 songs and no matter what, you’ll get your money’s worth here.

KING ROPES – IDAHO

While technically this wasn’t released this week, what else do we have going on? Last Friday saw the release of King Ropes’ new album Idaho and while the Bozeman, Montana outfit has a few albums under its proverbial belt, its new release seems a bit…different. King Ropes has always seemed like one of the most minimalist of minimalist bands around, with an exquisite charm that’s always present and sometimes, dangerous. Not the kind of danger anyone would be fearful of but the kind where knives are thrown at you but you know they’re never going to hit you. King Ropes is what you might expect of the West, sometimes falling backward, similar to some 90s-era indie rockers but I’ll spare you any lame comparisons.

The band’s Idaho is probably the band’s most realized work to date, as vocalist/guitarist Dave Hollier and friends take chances, airing out much more expansive songs. Instrumentation is sometimes scattershot, like guitars strewn across the opening “Two Shoes,” which eventually find their footing within the song. It may have been purposeful but the notes attempting to find footing around the song itself allows for a delicate charm as they wrap themselves around the melody. And that melody is gonna get stuck in your head alongside those drifting “La La La” harmonies. One thing the band attempts to embody within the album is “The Spirit of The West” but truth be told, even the band doesn’t know what that means, and that’s ok. On the rhythm-heavy “Radio Jane,” the band sprinkles it with keyboards and sparse guitar work. While it may not be the most appealing, it is pretty infectious which is odd because wouldn’t that just make it appealing? Yeah, it would. And that solo is as unique as the actual track.

It’s the music that can simply reel you in, much like the unexpected “Broken Cup” can just a few chords but the underlying keys add such a delicate touch. More than halfway through the song though the energy changes, with a heaviness around, and as guitars fade away into the background we can see the band is onto something. That leads into the dense little bluesy “Live Like An Animal,” which is sheer garage rock that would make Andre Williams happy as a baby suckin’ on its momma’s teat. You can’t avoid the guitars here leading the way across the song’s hefty rhythm as Hollier’s voice, just above a whisper, spits out how he wants to live like an animal, not giving reasons why but how. This is different for King Ropes but a welcomed change.

I keep wondering if the band actually does evoke the spirit of the West, and after listening to “International Shortwave” the music itself conjures images of dusty trails and tumbleweed. When Hollier sings the opening line, “We put him in a small pine box/a little pine box that we knew could never hold him/one pine box, made by hand/could never hope to hold the life of one man,” we can imagine a time long ago with bodies buried in simply made coffins, but his words are also ominously effective picturing men all dressed in black. The music drifts along atmospherically as a backdrop just for his words.

King Ropes offers much with its Idaho, which is exquisitely tempered and rarely needs to increase volume, density, or dynamics. It’s easy to get lost in between the songs, the notes, the hum, and it’s pretty rare to be able to accomplish that.