National Boxer

Today’s album is Boxer by the National, a band based out of Brooklyn. The National consists of vocalist Matt Berninger, brothers Aaron (guitar, bass, piano) and Bryce Dessner (guitar), and brothers Scott (bass, guitar) and Bryan Devendorf (drums). They have been a popular live band for a while now, but their status as national radio stars has only recently been realized with “Bloodbuzz Ohio” off of the album High Violet (released in May 2010).

#140 – The National’s Boxer (Metascore = 86)

Having given Boxer a couple of listens now (contrary to what I did previously), I can say without a doubt I enjoyed this album. The thing is, I’m having difficulty in evaluating the tracks individually. Sure, I could do that, but I think it defeats the purpose if I tell you “I like this track” or “This track tells the story of love lost” when those seem ubiquitous. What I can tell you is that there is at times an overwhelming sense of longing by the characters of the songs for good times in the past that may have come and gone. Is this depressing? It can be, and several critics have pointed this out (those critics that were more critical in their reviews).

All in all, though, this is a very good record to me. There are contrasts in terms of how the songs are structured—from slow, rambling pieces of moments lost to pieces with a rocking beat and louder guitars. I don’t think there is a unified storyline here, but I think these are characters that have interacted with the writer at some point (whether he refers to himself or not is another question all together). The character in “Mistaken for Strangers” is no longer the person his friends remembered when they were younger. “Squallor Victoria” for some reason or another is one of my favorites off this album. I don’t know if it’s just the beat and the way the singer sings the words…I don’t think it’s the lyrics really. “Slow Show” is good; seems like a song for a relationship that may have gone bad.

Here are the tracks that I have liked the most from this album, whether for music, lyrics, or both – “Fake Empire”, “Mistaken for Strangers”, “Brainy”, “Squallor Victoria”, “Slow Show”, “Start a War”, “Racing Like a Pro”, and “Ada”.