The National: Boxer

After waiting for months and jumping through hoops to find this album, I wasn't sure if I'd want to hear it for fear of realizing that it wasn't going to be what I was expecting...which was something as introspective and musically adept as a Death Cab album with the grace just short of a symphony. At this point I'd say that what I was expecting was fairly accurate. It's hard to avoid repeating that same observations that reviewers have already made, whether it's comparing Matt Berninger's voice to various liquors or discussing the obvious theme of growing up, as in standing at that point in life where you have to abandon your Converse for something clean and shiny, a shoe that hurts more than your feet when you walk. However, the latter is a worthy topic and I can imagine there are many who can relate to the lyrics in "Mistaken for Strangers" which paint a melancholy picture of life's inevitable progression.

"Showered and blue-blazered...you get mistaken for strangers by your own friends...another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults." Or there's the familiar jarring effect of growing out of your group of friends-- from "Green Gloves--" regardless of what you intend and even though it seems to be only you with this problem. "Falling out of touch with all my friends are some where getting wasted, hope they stay glued together, I have arms for them." Imagery plays a big role in this album making discussion of the mundane seems anything but. It's elegant yet tragic and best summed up in a line from "Slow Show," "everything I love gets lost in drawers."

You won't find cohesive, complete narratives but Berninger does a good job of creating tableaux from these glimpses of life.

At times the instrumental layers are reminiscent of Greetings from Michigan by Sufjan Stevens-- intricate and intriguing, with a light coating of sophistication. As it turns out, Stevens actually played piano on two of the tracks. Glancing down the liner notes reveals the use of bassoons, cellos, violas, organs, and a French horn for good measure. Several tracks, like "Squalor Victoria" feature strong drumming which makes for an interesting contrast against songs that delicately rise and swell from nowhere and wind up pinned down under said drums.

One standout is "Apartment Story," about a couple giving in to their normal, unremarkable existence. There's a smidgen of distortion, a bit of buzz which makes for welcome dose of edge. Other favorites include "Slow Show" and "Start a War," but picking them proves challenging because of how consistent Boxer is. There's not a song that clearly sits apart form the rest and there is certainly not a song that should have been left off. It really is quite an album and it just begs for close inspection, musically and lyrically otherwise much would be missed.