A few years ago an indie band from Brooklyn, via my home state of Ohio, released a record so infectious and undeniably potent, that I quickly unearthed the earlier records that to see what I might have missed before. The National’s “Alligator” set me off longing for the follow up to that brooding but oddly poppy masterpiece. “Boxer” is a lovely album, a tad bit darker in tone and subject, but no less compelling. The band almost feels like it might be marching towards something, driven by precise almost military sounding drum beat (think part Franz Ferdinand part American Music Club), augmented by strings, keys, and guitars and most distinctively the deep baritone of singer Berlinger. Vocally it is easy to hear bits of Leonard Cohen, Brian Ferry, Serge Gainsbourg, and the Tindersticks Stuart Staples, while also hearing something so much more modern. On the whole “The Boxer” is redeemed by a handful of songs like “Apartment Story” that groove and swagger with a brazen smirk and and driving beats. This record is a keeper, andso is he band.

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