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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: The Decemberists? |
| Date | Wed, 14 Dec 2005 21:40:53 -0500 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "AssociationWorks" <AssociationWorks@comcast.net>
> Based on a few recommendations I delved into this record to see
> what the fuss was all about...but couldn't get past what I heard as
> a
> slightly off-key, faux-British vocal coming through an AM radio
> ...laid
> over mediocre folk pop. Am I missing something?
Probably not. They don't really sound a thing like any band you've
ever expressed an interest in here, so there's no reason to think
you'd care for them at all, and no reason for you to investigate
further.
On the other hand, there are plenty of reasons why I like them, one
being that they do bear some resemblance to other bands I'm fond of.
(Although I admit I don't hear the comparison to Neutral Milk Hotel
that a lot of folks made in their earlier days.) The lyrics are quite
amazing, both in the way that they cover topics not usually found in
pop music (from high school sports embarrassments to the birth of the
daughter to a Spanish king, with a few stops at political skulduggery,
teenage hustlers and all-consuming lifelong nautical vendettas along
the way) and the way they casually work in some exceedingly clever
lines and particularly choice vocabulary. Also, there are by my count
seven excellent chorus melodies in these 14 songs:
We Both Go Down Together ("and oh my love, my love...")
Eli, The Barrow Boy ("would I could afford to buy my love...")
The Sporting Life ("there's my father looking on...")
16 Military Wives ("cheer them on to their rivals...")
The Engine Driver ("and if you don't love me, let me go..."
On the Bus Mall ("so take up your makeup and pocket your pills
away...")
The Mariner's Revenge Song ("find him, bind him, tie him to a
pole...")
Which is an exceedingly good batting average, and I would think a key
point for denizens of a mailing list purportedly devoted to such
things.
On the other hand, they don't even pretend to "rock out" in any
particular fashion, nor do they have the slightest musical debt to
Badfinger, and there are those who don't care for bands that have
pedal steel OR accordion players, much less both. There's also the
key point that the Decemberists are very much an indie buzz band of
the moment, having gotten a pretty significant amount of both press
ink and radio play for this album, and therefore I'm sure the backlash
has already kicked in in some quarters.
S
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