The National

Formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, but based out of Brooklyn, the National is two sets of brothers united by a common baritone — the two Devendorfs (Scott and Bryan), along with Aaron and Bryce Dessner, provide the instrumental backing for frontman Matt Berninger whose rich voice and sharp lyrical skills have captivated the discerning indie listener since 2001’s self-titled debut. We begin our overview of the band’s first decade with “Bloodbuzz Ohio”, a rolling cloud of uplifting melancholy from 2010’s brilliant High Violet, and “Fake Empire” from 2007’s Boxer, with its beguiling, deceptively simple rhythm and strange-but-gorgeous finale of horns.

The National takes a country side-road, in Next Steps.

2003’s Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers found the National in cahoots with producer Peter Katis (with whom they would strike up a fruitful working relationship as the years unfolded) as they explored a hybrid country vibe on tracks like “Lucky You” and “It Never Happened”. More complex textural tangents would be pursued on the next album Alligator (2005) — check out the bubbling bass and tumbling guitars on both “Secret Meeting” and “Mr. November”. The latter track would resurface during a drive to raise campaign funds for Barack Obama in 2008, when the band produced a T-shirt bearing the song’s accidentally appropriate title.

Over the course of the '00s, the National has evolved, gradually but surely, into an outfit of considerable depth and subtlety — literate frontman Matt Berninger is descriptively direct one moment, disarming the next, while his band mates (two sets of brothers) possess such a hunger for fresh and cleverly arranged sounds that the only justified response by the listener is complete sonic immersion. Our selection from their best work so far offers conclusive proof that the National inhabits some of the most imaginative realms in all of indie rock, and also reveals no shortage of substance beneath their fascinating surfaces: 2009's Dark Was the Night AIDS awareness project (featuring contributions from the likes of Arcade Fire and Grizzly Bear), was curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner and includes standout track "So Far Around the Bend".