|
reviews
|
opinions were like kittens i was giving them away. -modest mouse
there's nothing as something as one. -e. e. cummings
|
Interact
Discuss The Decemberists and all of your favorite musicians and bands in our music forum/message board.
Have you heard this album? Give us your rating above, 5 being best.
Another accordion squeezing band asked the question, content or form? A few bands excel at one or the other, but you don’t have to ask that question here. Literate lyrics crash against inventive, imaginative tunes filled with rich instrumentation like the waves in their oceans crash against the shore. The Decemberists have mastered both content and form and the ability to complement each other. They mix lines like “Let your legs loll on the lino / 'Til your sinews spoil / Will you stay here for a while, dear, / 'Til the radio plays something familiar? / Plays something familiar“ and “As he drifts to sleep with a moan and a weep / He is decked by a Japanese geisha with a garland of pearls / How she twists and twirls!” with a poppish blend of instruments lead by the piano in the second track, “Billy Liar.” But let’s not overlook track one, a song that sets the seafaring tone for the album, a pirate tune called “Shanty for the Arethusa” filled with a thick accordion against the creaking and bells of the sea and ship. We’re then thrown onto the shore in track three, “Los Angeles, I'm Yours,” where lead singer/songwriter Colin Meloy so eloquently paints a colorful menagerie of images of the city, and are tossed between land and sea throughout the rest of the album.
Track listing:
01 Shanty For The Arethusa
02 Billy Liar
03 Los Angeles, I'm Yours
04 The Gymnast, High Above the Ground
05 The Bachelor and the Bride
06 Song for Myla Goldberg
07 The Soldiering Life
08 Red Right Ankle
09 The Chimbley Sweep
10 I Was Meant for the Stage
11 As I Rise
|
The Decemberists are headed by Missoula, MT native, Colin Meloy, and also consist of Ezra Holbrook on drums, Nate Query on upright bass, Jenny Conlee on accordion, and Chris Funk on theremin and pedal steel guitar. Meloy previously worked with an alt. country group from Portland and The Decemberists have been labeled everything from alt. country to indie, but don't be swayed by these generalizations, these guys are far too interesting to be thrown into one of those categories. Their name may clue you in as to what their style embodies, which they named after the combination of drama and frigidity of the month more than the 19th century St. Petersburg revolutionary group.
They do have a dramatic as well as a sweeping style that makes up for a lack of immediately infectious tunes, to quote Ugly Casanova lyrics, these are “like barnacles on a boat,” they slowly grow on you then stick, the music is so rich, and the sounds so alluring, that I get something new from them with each listen. What will capture you from the start, more than the ultra-romantic style, is the unique, enchantingly nasal, and strong voice of Mr. Meloy, a voice that sails over the songs and rings clearly in “I Was Meant for the Stage,” which starts out with his voice only lightly accompanied. This album differs some from Castaways and Cutouts, for one, this one is a bit brighter, but both albums display a band that stands out from the rest and one to keep an eye on.
-Jennifer Hall 01/27/04
|
|
