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During my interview with Brent Knopf of the band Menomena, Brent suggested I listen to a band named The National, specifically their album Alligator. Following the interview it took me a few weeks to look them up. Like Brent warned me, I didn't quite get the fascination of the band or the album, at first. Based on Brent's advice, I felt the album was worth future listens. My largest obstacle was becoming acclimated to Matt Berninger's vocal style (just listen and you will understand). Once it clicked with me, the rest of the band already won me over. I realized then, the importance of the combination.

While researching the band initially, I ran across a plethora of reviews with high praise about the album. Some critics even placed the album on their "best of 2005" lists. I wondered why my conversation with Brent was the first time I heard of the band. I realize now, I did hear about the band, but didn't quite take them as something I would be interested in. Various attempts to describe the band's sound from these critics were misleading and off-target. In fact, I didn't actually agree with any description until now. When reviewing their latest album Boxer, a writer and friend of the band, Alec Hanley Bemis, made this attempt which is posted on their myspace page.

"the band find ways to combine the expressive depth of composed music with the urgency of pop. It's a sound built with guitar, bass, piano and drums and festooned with brass, woodwinds, backing vocals, strings, and organs. A product of dedicated labor, happenstance, and alchemical reactions, the music reveals new layers with each successive listen."

This description seems dead on except he left out one important characteristic... their lead vocalist. Matt Berninger sings as though the world is passing him by and he is tired of keeping up. His singing expresses emotions sparingly. However, the subject matter of the lyrics reveals enough drama to fill a book of psychological case studies. This pairing of deep lyrics and lazy vocals perhaps distinguishes the band from their indie counterparts. He also makes references to whiskey frequently, which is always a good thing.

The rest of the band does their part as well. The band is comprised of two sets of brothers; Aaron Dessner (bass, guitar), Bryce Dessner (guitar), Bryan Devendorf (drums) and Scott Devendorff (guitar, bass). Each one of them proves themselves as tasteful and expressive musicians throughout both albums. On Boxer, though, drummer Bryan Devendorf plays his ass off. His drumming wins me over more than the other band members. In "Mistaken for Strangers" and "Squalor Victoria," he takes a much larger presence in the mix, playing complex rhythms which set up a grooving back beat for the chugging guitar parts to rely. These marching style beats consistently keep a fevered pace in contrast to Berninger's slow brooding vocal style.

As impressive as Alligator is, Boxer surpasses it in every way. The album is easier to digest partly because of the tasteful addition of string and horn arrangements provided by Padma Newsome, from the band Clogs, and Surfjan Stevens piano accompaniment. The piano accompaniment, like the busy drum parts, rounds out their sound in the songs in which it is tastefully played. Also, the songwriting and production seem more fluid connecting the songs together as a whole. In addition, everything I liked about Alligator, seems to be enhanced with Boxer.

With everyone so eager to jump on the bandwagon of the next breakout indie band, it is good to hear a band deserving of every bit of praise they are getting. My best albums of 2007 list will undoubtedly include their album. Where it ends up on the list, however, just might depend on how many times I get to listen to it between now and then.

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