photo credit: Nicholas Burnham

It would have been difficult -- nay, impossible -- for a blog-lurking fan of indie rock to have traversed 2007 without reading about how wonderful Boxer, the latest record from The National, is. When they named it the 17th best record of the year, one wordsmith over at Pitchfork likened the album's melancholy sound to "the all-encompassing dread of 21st century American life." Which is supposed to mean "it's good," and it is.

But it's too easy to listen to a great record because someone tells you to, even to enjoy it, and never dig deeper into an artist's catalog. Especially in the case of The National, to assume they only got good when all the bloggers started to say they were good would be a colossally regrettable oversight. There's just so much more introspection in deep baritone, so much more driving guitar accentuated by carefully arranged keys and strings, so much more low-light, high-BAC, best-listened-to-alone music to be found.

Lucky for you, dear reader, Amie Street is in a position to save you from yourself, to help you to sidestep such negligent laxity. The first three releases from The National --

, , and -- are available to be added directly to your personal musical pantheon.

These are really records best digested all at once, but in the spirit of a toe-dip before a dive, here's an incomplete list of must-haves, should-haves, and omigod-i-can't-believe-you-don't-haves:

Theory of the Crows () - If there's a better song that wasn't written by Springsteen about working for a living, I can't think of it. There's a good bit of chatter about this one in The National's edition of Stereogum's Quit Your Day Job series.


All the Wine () - Poppier than most of the rest, this begins with the lofty claim "I'm a perfect piece of ass." I'm pretty sure Matt Berninger didn't mean that literally, but hey, maybe he did. Regardless, you'll find yourself playing this two or three times in a row.


Murder Me Rachael () - I know a guy that saw The National one time in a little club and they blew him away so he bought their CD and then complained to me that it didn't rock as hard as they did live. It's a shame he didn't buy the CD with this song on it.


Available () - Really, a shame. Because this one is on the same record, and it also rocks hard.



American Mary () - Rumor has it that when they were forming, they toyed with the idea of naming the band American Mary, instead of The National. In fact, the band's official website is americanmary.com.


Wasp Nest () - Good bands use the first track on a record to set a tone, and the tone The National set with this, the first track on their last self-released album, was that they were ready for the big time. Listen to this and tell me there isn't a trainwreck of a girl that you've known whose skinny throat, despite it all, you wouldn't have kissed if you weren't so damned careful all the time. This song takes 3:21 and 2 verses to accomplish what some movies try and fail to accomplish in 2 hours.

Cold Girl Fever () - File this one under Things to Never Say to a Girl: "What are you for, now that I have hardcore?"



Fashion Coat () - "I die fast in this city; outside I die slow." If you don't like lines like that, then I guess we just can't be friends.



29 Years () - "You know I dreamed about you for 29 years before I saw you / You know I dreamed about you, I missed you for 29 years." One of the most memorable moments on the Boxer record is a reprise of this song at the end of "Slow Show." The original isn't really noteworthy otherwise, but it's a cool bit of trivia to impress your Johnny-come-lately friends.

That ought to be enough to get you started. Or rather, it should be enough to ensure that you can't stop.

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