The Decemberists--anybody a fan?

I hadn't heard about this band until about two weeks ago. When asking about all of the hype I'd heard about Neutral Milk Hotel, someone mentioned that an even better band was The Decemberists.

Now I'm hooked--anybody else like what they've heard from this group?

 

Yeah, good band. The latest one with Petra Haden on board was really a grower for me this year. Some amazing songs. Been a fan for a few years now since Castaways and Cutouts, but this is probably the best one they've done overall, although that first one you hear is always gonna be special

http://stevehoffman.tv/forums/showthread.php?p=958759

 

I really like them a lot as well. Dont' think that they've done anything better than Neutral Milk Hotel's Aeroplane yet though.

The new album is probably my favorite. All their stuff is available on emusic as well.

 

In all of the discussion of Neutral Milk Hotel, I never hear much about the first album--is it in the same league as *Aeroplane*?

 

Is there a term Decemberists in English or what? In Russian Dekabristi is the name of the high society noblemen, most of them 1812 heroes who raised an uprising against the Zar in December 1825 in St.Petersburg. Sorry for a threadcrap - and what does the band play?

 

Yes, that's the origin of the band's name. However, I don't think there's any political agenda attached to the choice. (Perhaps I'm wrong.)

As far as what they play? Very literate guitar-based rock, colored with accordian occasionally. What's interesting to me is the songwriter's (Colin Meloy) interest in writing from various personas, some of them grounded in historical characters.

 

Yes. Yes. Yes.
Was listening to Picaresque on the way to work this morning, very good LP with great warm production.
A great fall band.

 

Yeah, good description. Remind me somewhat of Robyn Hitchcock, notably his solo work with the Egyptians. And a lot of the Smiths. And even a little of They Might Be Giants sometimes. But there's an old cabaret aspect that runs through the music brought about by the use of those creaky accordions. Kind of a European folk sound, sometimes even a gypsy sound. Some of the songs are really literary epics, while others are surprisingly simple.

 

a little alt rock for me but get anything by Petra, period

she is a mind-reading monster - one of the best musicians walking, even when her legs are shattered

PH rules, no question

 

My 18 year old son is a big fan
I am 47-who would they remind me of??

 

Not sure who else to compare them to if you don't know any of the references mentioned already - Neutral Milk Hotel, Robyn Hitchcock, the Smiths, etc - but one of the main reasons that we're talking about them and why they are pretty popular now is because they are something kind of unique. But I'll stick with Robyn Hitchcock as a similar sound. Not so much the Soft Boys, but more his solo stuff. In fact, I heard recently that they've been covering his "Lady Waters and The Hooded One" in some of their shows and recorded it for an upcoming tribute.

 

I'm 47 too so.....

Maybe some of those Raleigh-Durham-Winston-Salem type bands or those Athens-type bands from the 80s? Like Mitch Easter/Let's Actice/Alex Chilton/Chris Stamey/Peter Holsapple. I dunno, what does Davey think?

 

It has its moments, but I don't think any of their other work is in the same league. It is important to note that Aeroplane is probably in my top three of all time, so that's a lofty standard.

 

Heheh, sounds good to me

They do sound a little like REM when Stipe is spinning out some of those oblique stories. And Belle & Sebastian from more modern times. Maybe a little bit of Nick Drake. Still, those European folk influences do move them in another direction too. A little toward Fairport Convetion and Pentangle maybe. I don't know. Petra Haden does help solidify the sound. All their albums are pretty compressed unfortunately, and the new one seems a bit "phasey" as well. But it does really snap into a nice focus when you get in the right position. But the underlying production is very good, especially for a relatively low budget indie.

 

I really like "The Engine Driver".
I'll have to check out more by them.

 

If anyone's interested, here's a brief interview with Colin Meloy:

http://www.magnetmagazine.com/

 

My opinion of the Decemberists went up immeasurably after seeing them live at the Intonation Festival, but it's still not very high. Their schtick gets old after a while. Whiny tone in the lead vocal, ridiculous quasi-historical lyrics, bad female backing, strange eastern European bridge/track. Sometimes the songs are great enough to overcome it -- Billy Liar, Chimbley Sweep, Infanta -- but overall NMH totally leaves them in the dust. I don't think the two bands are even fit for comparison.

 

Yeah, it's funny but I've read similar comments about NMH in the past

Love them both myself, but Mangum and Meloy are very different storytellers, no doubt there. Mangum seems to rip the words from someplace deep inside, while Meloy is a more detached observer, more like Morrissey. Hard to make a direct comparison. Works both ways for me, and after awhile the voice and the lyrics and the music all come together. But that's what makes music so fun, that we can hear the same music and have such different opinions, yet still appreciate many of the same aspects. The Decemberists are gradually building quite a body of work that'll probably never stand as tall as the now almost legendary last album from NMH, bolstered somewhat by the meltdown into self-exile, but still a very significant body of work in my mind.