If there is one word associated with The National more than any other, it is "grower". This is a term I have disagreed with wholeheartedly, primarily on the basis that the fans who use it are insufferably annoying. By the average National fan's definition of the word, it is flagrantly impossible to enjoy Boxer in full upon the first listen. Whether you have mildly enjoyed it, or suffered a joyous cardiac event in its wake, the ensuing discussion is much the same.

"Boxer is [great/terrible]. I [loved/disliked] it."
"Just wait though, it grows on you."
"Okay, but I already said I [loved/hated] it."
"It's a grower, you'll see."
"For the love of everything sacred, I get it already!"
"Just give it time. You'll see."

...As if Boxer were a seed requiring time and nourishment to germinate into actual enjoyment, and as though National fans have doctorates in botany and only they can comprehend the process.

I have bitterly denied the term "grower" since first discovering the album a year ago, but believe I have finally come to understand what all of this pretentiousness is about. It wasn't until my 2010 year end review that I noticed Boxer had become my most played album of all time. This was genuinely surprising. I had not been conscious of playing it so much, and what was more, it was no older to me than when I first heard it.

There is something about Boxer which is permanent. Comfortable. Routine. It is an album managing to convey feelings of boredom and mediocrity without falling into them. It is both lush and subdued in its instrumentation. Matt Berninger's tired voice and sober lyrics express stagnancy and disenchantment. Boxer is the dark rings around your eyes as you stir in the morning hours. It is the tie you loosen at the end of an eight hour day.

Boxer is a thoughtful album, melancholy and dryly funny, applicable to any emotion or season. This balance has allowed me to enjoy it consistently for longer than any other album. During a turbulent year, Boxer has been a shred of stability. It is an album for all of the compliant, ordinary people. It is the perfect fit.

I still do not believe that Boxer is a "grower" in any sense that can be monitored. You can't count the rings in its bark, or the penciled ticks in the doorway marking its growth. Boxer is unconscious and visceral, a parasite quietly reproducing within your system as you follow your schedule. It is only upon examination that you are made aware of how deeply rooted it has become. It is with this in mind that I must give The National's relentlessly obnoxious fans some due credit. It's not that your enjoyment of Boxer must follow a mathematical incline, but that its personal appeal, subtle and restrained, consumes the listener. Just wait. You'll see.