For the first half of September, I’ll be selecting my Top 15 favorite songs from The National. A band that has rarely let me down — both in the recording studio and in concert. #FaveArtistTop15

“Abel” and “Mr. November” may have been the band’s early monster tracks, but, for me, the Boxer album is where it all came together with a swagger and a musical maturity not evident in most indie bands. Boxer was the album that proved to me these guys weren’t a flash in the pan. They could go on to become one of the next great bands of our time. Which they did. Several songs from my Top 15 come from Boxer, including “Mistaken for Strangers”.

This was one of the songs that endeared me to The National instantly. It has bravado. And it has hooks. The song seems to wind itself up with that opening distorted guitar riff from Aaron Dessner. Next, Bryan Devendorf reels you in with these irresistible, nearly epileptic drumbeats. Then Berninger launches into the vocals, practically reading it like it’s a poem. It’s one of my favorites on The National’s concert set lists because the band just feels like it’s completely in the zone every single time they perform it.

“Showered and blue-blazered, fill yourself with quarters.”