BUZZ BANDS

Major league

There are a lot of fires burning beneath the smoldering indie rock of Brooklyn-based quintet the National -- sorrow, heartache, longing. Not that singer Matt Berninger is trying to smother them. If anything, Berninger’s baritone (which has been compared to that of Nick Cave and Ian Curtis) details every vignette with cathartic composure.

“It’s a record where sadness and ugliness sit right next to the silly, ridiculous, tender stuff,” Berninger says of the songs on “Alligator,” the band’s third album and their first on Beggars Banquet. “It digs into more spaces and rooms than our previous records.”

The heady material has gained attention at a time when many indie bands have focused on fashioning, or reviving, a style rather than shaping music around storytelling. “There are a lot of things that, if taken together, create a mood,” Berninger says. “But we aren’t trying to create a sound.”

The National, which includes Aaron and Bryce Dessner and Scott and Bryan Devendorf, performs at Spaceland on Saturday.

*

Brit on a wild ride

The cult of shoegazer rock fans might be quick to embrace the dense, swirling guitar sound of Nottingham, England’s, Amusement Parks on Fire. But will they believe frontman Michael Feerick is only 20?

“It’s true,” Feerick says. “I got into My Bloody Valentine, but I haven’t heard Ride or a lot of other bands -- that whole scene passed me by when I was about 7.”

Amusement Parks’ debut album, on Filter U.S. Recordings (a spinoff company of the music magazine and marketing company), possesses the sonic swell of ‘90s acts such as Swervedriver and Catherine Wheel. “It’s not that we planned any revival,” says Feerick, whose band plays Monday and Wednesday at Spaceland and Tuesday at Cinespace. “It was just what happened when I combined the sort of Sigur Ros soundscapes I was into with my pop music tendencies.”

*

Fast forward

Speaking of shoegazers, Mark Gardener of the aforementioned legends Ride will perform tonight at the Derby with members of the up-and-coming Oxford group Goldrush as his backing band. Gardener says his solo album is “three-quarters finished” and he’s aiming for fall release.... Anaheim four-piece the Willowz play Spaceland on Friday to mark the release of their second album, “Talk in Circles” -- a sprawling slab of tricked-out garage rock that might surprise those who’ve seen their roughhewn live show.... Barroom rock that might remind you of the Boss -- that’s the scouting report on New York’s the Hold Steady (Monday at the Troubadour).... Now this seems like a good match: L.A.’s Big City Rock, the amped-up power-pop quintet signed to Atlantic, is recording its major-label debut in New York with Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Schlesinger producing, along with studio whiz Brian Malouf.... And with his new album nearly ready, Jason Falkner headlines the Viper Room tonight.

*

-- Kevin Bronson