The Decemberists-“Picaresque”
(Kill Rock Stars)
(Kill Rock Stars)
9 out of 10
Picture links to the Decemberists' website and was nicked off Artist Direct
Believe it or not, there really exists a band that can effectively create an atmosphere for your history homework. It’s not Schoolhouse Rock, nor is it Mozart or Bach. It’s a band that’s quietly becoming one of the most heralded of our day, and even though they speak of the otherwise forgotten subjects of barrow boys, young royalty, whaling, and courting peasants, their music is incredibly entertaining and emits unhealthy amounts of cool.
This band is Portland, OR’s Decemberists, led by bespectacled, nasal-voiced, folk-songwriting genius Colin Meloy, who has long before displayed his storytelling prowess on two previous Decemberists albums, “Castaways & Cutouts” and “Our Majesty The Decemberists”. The former was a bleak, quiet album that, although a tad boring, presented some of the saddest songs I have ever heard. The latter was more poppy and jubilant, with a tad more emphasis on instrumentals. On the latest, “Picaresque”, Meloy & Co. combine the best of the two to create the perfect soundtrack to an epic historical drama. Call it the Victorian-Era indie “American Idiot” if you must.
The Decemberists put the best of every type of mood into this effort. There are two excellent epics here, 7-minute “The Bagman’s Gambit” and 8-minute “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”. “Bagman” is solid, with an engrossing story of a fugitive with a backdrop of a great acoustic riff that melts into an orchestral cacophony and back again. But it’s “Mariner”, a more traditional song with a polka feeling to it, that really hits the spot. This songwriting is purely amazing. A fisherman happens to be eaten alive by a whale along with the very person he has been seeking to avenge for years...I don’t want to give too much away! The tone of the song simply is enough to send a shiver through your entire bone structure. This is probably the best song I’ve heard this decade so far.
There are also superb indie-pop ditties here, such as “The Sporting Life”, the oddly upbeat story of a boy whose social life topples down due to an injury, and “16 Military Wives”, a quirky series of numerical one-liners about failed diplomacy and military tragedy. “Wives”, although not the best song on here, is the simplest, and thus was wisely chosen as the album’s first single.
Other gems include “The Infanta”, a towering anthem worshipping a naïve child princess who is ultimately indifferent to her situation; “We Both Go Down Together”, a striking tale of an impoverished woman who falls in love with aristocracy; and “On The Bus Mall”, a detailed landscape of a vintage red-light district.
This is without a doubt the Decemberists’ best yet, and it excites me to think what’s coming up in the future. If you are a fan of any kind of folk music or just need something really new and fresh to listen to, rush out and get this now.
This band is Portland, OR’s Decemberists, led by bespectacled, nasal-voiced, folk-songwriting genius Colin Meloy, who has long before displayed his storytelling prowess on two previous Decemberists albums, “Castaways & Cutouts” and “Our Majesty The Decemberists”. The former was a bleak, quiet album that, although a tad boring, presented some of the saddest songs I have ever heard. The latter was more poppy and jubilant, with a tad more emphasis on instrumentals. On the latest, “Picaresque”, Meloy & Co. combine the best of the two to create the perfect soundtrack to an epic historical drama. Call it the Victorian-Era indie “American Idiot” if you must.
The Decemberists put the best of every type of mood into this effort. There are two excellent epics here, 7-minute “The Bagman’s Gambit” and 8-minute “The Mariner’s Revenge Song”. “Bagman” is solid, with an engrossing story of a fugitive with a backdrop of a great acoustic riff that melts into an orchestral cacophony and back again. But it’s “Mariner”, a more traditional song with a polka feeling to it, that really hits the spot. This songwriting is purely amazing. A fisherman happens to be eaten alive by a whale along with the very person he has been seeking to avenge for years...I don’t want to give too much away! The tone of the song simply is enough to send a shiver through your entire bone structure. This is probably the best song I’ve heard this decade so far.
There are also superb indie-pop ditties here, such as “The Sporting Life”, the oddly upbeat story of a boy whose social life topples down due to an injury, and “16 Military Wives”, a quirky series of numerical one-liners about failed diplomacy and military tragedy. “Wives”, although not the best song on here, is the simplest, and thus was wisely chosen as the album’s first single.
Other gems include “The Infanta”, a towering anthem worshipping a naïve child princess who is ultimately indifferent to her situation; “We Both Go Down Together”, a striking tale of an impoverished woman who falls in love with aristocracy; and “On The Bus Mall”, a detailed landscape of a vintage red-light district.
This is without a doubt the Decemberists’ best yet, and it excites me to think what’s coming up in the future. If you are a fan of any kind of folk music or just need something really new and fresh to listen to, rush out and get this now.
Key Tracks: "The Mariner's Revenge Song", "The Sporting Life", "The Bagman's Gambit", "We Both Go Down Together"
2 comments:
You actually got my lazy ass to register for this website solely to tell you that your writing rocks my socks off my ass.
All your reviews are spot on, but I have a special fondness for the Decemberists, which is why you get extra kudos for this review. (I'm only sad you didn't mention anything about "Engine Driver," one of my personal faves--but this is only a minor quibble).
Bravo, I look forward to reading more of your work!
Hiya, Dame! Thanks for taking the time to add a little something to my otherwise patronless abode on da intranets!
Engine Driver's great, I love all of the tracks on this CD, but I was building off of prime examples of certain song formats contained in the CD, and I didn't know how to classify that song. I could have possibly plugged it in as a ballad with Of Angels and Angles, but then i'd shift into a bit of song title overkill. I try not to name drop more than 2/3 of an album's tracks.
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