This one's long overdue. What with the Tour de France and the new bikes and big trips and all, I've neglected to post a few words about what is, so far, hands down the best record to come out in 2007.
The new release by Brooklyn outfit The National, called Boxer, is not a leap forward for the band, not a new direction of some experimentation with form gone right or even a departure from what they've done previously.
Boxer is none of those things. But it is a document of a rock band coming into their own and arriving at a level of sound and artistry that most bands can only hope of glimpsing. The songwriting is impeccable, Matt Berninger's lyrics and baritone delivery as dead-nuts and smooth as anything you could imagine. Plays on words and syntax meld seamlessly with narrative journeys as they do in the best literature.
The music, too, is spot-on. Guitarwork and bass on this record seem more natural and impressive here than in the past, even if it's more subtle, and Bryan Devendorf's drums are just amazing. You don't expect such prominent drumwork in songs like these, but his timing is otherworldly and his beats so totally original and inspiring that it seems like they couldn't happen any other way.
Boxer is one for the ages, and one any lover of American music needs to own.
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