Dark Victory: The National

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MATT BERNINGER, LEAD singer of Brooklyn band The National, prefers wine onstage. Yet the noirish baritone he uses to weave fragmented tales of trench coat-wearing bodyguards, doomed romances and assignations on silvery New York City streets makes him sound more like a bourbon-swilling creature of late nights and lovers' fights, a guy you'd join at a dive bar to swap war stories.

For a band that specializes in dark anthems of insecure boyfriends, trophy wives and white-collared stiffs trying to climb the corporate ladder, The National has a lot to be downright gleeful about these days. After three critically admired (if not always mega-selling) records and years of touring, "sometimes driving eight hours to play for eight people," says Berninger, "we're in a new spot, where there will be a bunch of people paying attention to our new record from the beginning."

That disc, "Boxer," won't be out until May 22; a national tour, with a June 20 gig at the 9:30 Club follows. But the quintet — frontman Berninger, and two pairs of brothers, Aaron (bass/guitar) and Bryce Dessner (guitar) and Scott (guitar/bass), and Bryan Devendorf (drums) — will reveal many of its tracks on Friday at Constitution Hall opening for fellow chamber rockers (and indie "it" band) Arcade Fire.

"The first time we met them, we played a show together in Amsterdam," says Berninger. "We'd thought of it as a double bill, but the truth is, they were doing a show in the main hall, and we played in the basement later — the after-hours band for leftover stragglers."

But critical and commercial buzz for The National's 2005 disc, "Alligator," changed things for the five friends from Cincinnati, who formed the band in Brooklyn in 1999. Less alt-country and mellow than the band's earlier offerings, its thrumming dual guitars, tight drumming and shadowy singing invited comparisons to everything from Nick Cave to Joy Division. On that album and the new one, The National is saved from any mope-rock murk, partially thanks to the band's secret weapon and unofficial sixth member, Aussie multi-instrumentalist Padma Newsome. His viola and violin riffs add to the impassioned rockers of "Alligator" and embellish the moodier, quieter "Boxer."

The Raymond Chandler-meets-Chagall lyrics that Berninger growls are what make "Boxer" and this band so easily wedged in your brain. In "Ada," he sings of waiting for a woman "inside an empty tuxedo with grapes in my mouth." The obliqueness is intentional. "They aren't exactly stories as much as moments, little scenes. I like songs that allow you to color it in yourself."

"Boxer" finds the boys in the band in a more optimistic place than earlier records, with tracks that speak about reviving relationships with lost friends and lovers. "Yeah, 'Boxer' is more peaceful," says Berninger.

"We'd been touring a lot, and we wanted to chill out a little, stay home and reconnect to our lives. There's a sense of the characters being worn down a bit, trying to regain their footing." The surefooted sounds on "Boxer" suggest that The National never lost it musically anyhow.

» Constitution Hall , 1776 D St. NW; with Arcade Fire, Fri., 8 p.m., sold out; 800-551-7328.

Photo by Abbey Drucker; courtesy Beggars Banquet