I’m late on this one, but that’s often the way I like it. Instead of having to wait a year and a half for a sophomore effort that may or may not (almost never) live up to the first album, I get to listen to a handful of albums at once. This is the case with the Decemberists. I have three releases and they’re quite good. Very talented.There is one thing that I have the tiniest bit of an issue with however. Near as I can tell they’re from Portland, Oregon. After a casual listen, you’d imagine them more likely from Portsmouth, England. Not only is the music “English” sounding, but frontman Colin Meloy’s singing accent is, well a bit of a uniquely nasal English accent — not that there is anything wrong with that on an English dude, but as I’ve already mentioned, he’s not an English dude (I think he’s from Montana originally).
The music is gorgeous, the lyrics are stunning, and Meloy’s vocals are the glue. They’re all extremely gifted musicians and they paint a picture that harkens back to the days of Dickens — which is again unique and very effective. I have to thank Andre Torrez’ (a friend) Audioscrobbler playlist for hooking me up with these guys. I was getting depressed that the Neutral Milk Hotel I’d been listening to will likely never have a follow-up (DAMN YOU MENTAL ILLNESS STRIKING ALL OF THE GREAT SONGWRITERS) and this has done an admirable job at filling a void.
Give them a listen, they’re on killrockstars and they have a new album “Picaresque” coming out on March 22nd.
3mew.com 