I love Boxer by The National

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 If you’re a bari-bass there’s not a lot of pop, rock, or alt artists to latch onto. So that’s what made hearing The National for the first time a revelation. 

There was a few country artists at that time (Josh Turner of course comes to mind), Shaggy, and theCrash Test Dummies. But for a guy emerging from the emo/pop-punk scene into the alt indie (read early hipster) there wasn't a lot to turn to. 

I remember walking through a record store right after graduation. It was 2007. 

There was an album, black and white photo, bold all caps print in white and yellow. It just caught my eye. 


This unassuming purchase has been in my top 10 rotation ever since. 

I fell in love. I had no idea what this album was going to be. It just hit me. 

This is one of the few albums I still play through from almost start to finish ever time I start it. From the opening organ swell into the piano chords of Fake Empire all the way to slow guitar strum of Gospel I'm hooked every time.

First all of the vocals are in my range without straining. That never happens. To be able to sing along and sound like me was amazing. I had a very long and at times frustrating vocal change. I got kept out of a choir I wanted to be in because my voice was violently shifting from a high tenor to the baritone/bass it rests at now. 

Finding music that lyrically was where I wanted to be, that sounded more like me singing. It was everything. I can’t express the joy it brought enough. 

Two the lyrical play is the point, the music is just the supporting texture on the canvas not the focus. Yet it moves. And every paint stroke of a note matters. This is a band that understands dynamics, tempo, and timbre. Not everything needs to be loud. Not everything requires complicated melodies. And it speaks to me. 

This is the album I can listen to for a drive. I can sit mellow with it. I can even fall asleep to it.

It’s just one I love.

So listen to it!

https://open.spotify.com/album/2pwNkShhY1uip80rLMHUgX?si=43_59B79SdSfMSUrGoCqkw

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