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When the Decemberists first exploded onto the indie music
scene a few years ago, they instantly won our hearts with their
charming anachronistic tendencies. Stage Two: a little more ballad-y,
but still every bit as endearingly antiquated. Now, with their
third full-length, Picaresque, they seem to be finally
entering our century. Don't get me wrong: the lyrics still maintain
the feel of fantastically handcrafted antiques as they always
have (with the exception of "16 Military Wives", a political
song about as grounded in the here-and-now as we've ever heard
from these guys), and Colin Meloy's vocals are still as
whimsical as always. But somewhere along the way, somebody introduced
these kids to rock music. Case in point: "The Sporting Life"
sounds like the long-lost cousin of Iggy Pop's "Lust
For Life", not to mention the galloping urgency of opening
track, "The Infanta". The interesting thing about this
new development is that it somehow leaves the impression that
they have dramatically evolved while in fact having changed nothing
whatsoever. Is this moving forward, or standing still in a new
pose? Either way, they have not lost their knack for writing music
that feels both completely organic and yet exquisitely, meticulously
contrived.
-Emily Strong
Track listing:
1. The Infanta
2. We Both o Down Together
3. Eli, The Barrow Boy
4. The Sporting Life
5. The Bagman's Gambit
6. From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)
7. 16 Military Wives
8. The Engine Driver
9. On the Bus Mall
10. The Mariner's Revenge Song
11. Of Angels and Angles
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