The National Boxer

The National’s steady, majestic indie rock never seemed as exquisitely clear as it did on Boxer, an album about young adults with good jobs who made the right decisions but still can’t seem to be happy. While Matt Berninger’s delivery can be moody and his lyrics dense (“Another uninnocent, elegant fall/Into the unmagnificent lives of adults,” goes a snippet of “Mistaken for Strangers”), the anthemic sweep of the music is powerfully direct.