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Avg: 4.5 (634 ratings)
- Date Released: March 22, 2005
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock, Pop
- Label: Kill Rock Stars / Redeye
-
We Say...
The Decemberists are probably best known for frontman Colin Meloy's juiced-up literary screeds, which tend to feature obscure historical heroes and functionally obsolete three-syllable words. The beauty of it is, Meloy's bookish prose is entirely in line with the Decemberists' post-nerd mission: the five-piece routinely squirms away from traditional indie rock postures, opting instead for wince-worthy trappings of high school geekdom like ill-fitting drama club duds (street urchin pantaloons, the requisite tree suit) and marching band noisemakers like glockenspiel and trombone. Yes, the Decemberists are lovable and smart, an oddly charming ensemble of half-grinning, half-smirking underdogs who churn out loud, gloriously hook-ridden pop.
The band's third full-length, Picaresque, offers up more tight, organ-led sing-alongs populated (unsurprisingly) by Portuguese child-princesses and Russian refugees. The unusually topical "Sixteen Military Wives" is an immediate standout, featuring honking horn swells and Meloy's bouncy, nasal whines which only half-disguise his vitriol ("America can and American can't say no/ And American does if America says it's so"). Opener "The Infanta" is a rousing fight song, perfectly propulsive and brash, while soft, mid-tempo lament "We Both Go Down Together" may be the first pop song in history to successfully rhyme "tattoo'd tramp" with "labor camp." -
They Say...
"The Infanta," the thunderous opening track on the Decemberists' fluid and predictably studious Picaresque, rolls in like a ghost ship at 40 knots in a hail of cannon fire with a mad English professor at the wheel. Colin Meloy and his esteemed West Coast colleagues have no qualms about beginning their third full-length record with a processional about a child monarch, and it's a testimony to their talents as orators and interpreters of both the absurd and the mundane that they continue to assimilate more fans than they alienate. While Picaresque follows its predecessor's -- the treacly Her Majesty -- predilection for seafaring and mythology, its boot-covered feet are more firmly planted in the present, resulting in the group's most accessible -- and decidedly upbeat -- product to date. The rollicking "16 Military Wives," the aforementioned "Infanta," and "The Sporting Live" (which comes dangerously close to Belle & Sebastian's "Stars of Track and Field") help balance the spooky atmospherics of more reserved cuts like "From My Own True Love (Lost at Sea)" and "Eli, the Barrow Boy." The Decemberists have always excelled at midtempo British folk-inspired dream pop, and Picaresque is no exception, as the brooding "We Both Go Down Together," which sounds like a mist-drenched Pacific Northwest rendering of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion," and the wistful "Engine Driver" rank among the group's finest offerings. The album concludes with the diabolical "Mariner's Revenge Song," a Tin Pan Alley dirge/operetta reminiscent of Kurt Weill's "The Black Freighter," and the brief but intoxicating "Of Angels and Angles," a solo Meloy ballad celebrating the holy trinity of nautical lore: love, drowning, and death.
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| 01. |  |
The Infanta |
5:08 |
|
| 02. | |
We Both Go Down Together |
3:04 |
|
| 03. | |
Eli, The Barrow Boy |
3:11 |
|
| 04. | |
The Sporting Life |
4:38 |
|
| 05. | |
The Bagman's Gambit |
7:02 |
|
| 06. | |
From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea) |
3:42 |
|
| 07. | |
16 Military Wives |
4:53 |
|
| 08. | |
The Engine Driver |
4:15 |
|
| 09. | |
On the Bus Mall |
6:04 |
|
| 10. | |
The Mariner's Revenge Song |
8:46 |
|
| 11. | |
Of Angels and Angles |
2:28 |
|
11 Total Tracks, 53:11 Total Length
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Credits
- Tom Hill - Trombone // Petra Haden - Violin // Petra Haden - Violin // Petra Haden - Violin // Petra Haden - Voices // Petra Haden - Voices // Petra Haden - Voices // Joe Cunningham - Sax (Baritone) // Joe Cunningham - Sax (Tenor) // Eric Stern - Tenor (Vocal) // Aaron Stewart - Tamtam // Alicia J. Rose - Photography // Alicia J. Rose - Make-Up // Alicia J. Rose - Lighting Design // Sean Nelson - Voices // Paul Brainard - Trumpet // Paul Brainard - Horn Arrangements // Nate Query - ? // Christopher Walla - Guitar (Electric) // Christopher Walla - Producer // Christopher Walla - Mixing // Jeff London - Shofar // The Decemberists - Producer // The Decemberists - Main Performer // Troy Tietjen - Mixing // Rachel Blumberg - ? // Chris Funk - ? // Colin Meloy - Guitar // Jenny Conlee - Voices // John Roderick - Sound Effects // Jeff Smith - Assistant // Jeff Smith - Lighting Design // Carson Ellis - Design // Carson Ellis - Illustrations // Carson Ellis - Costume Design // Carson Ellis - Group Member // Dawn Barger - Group Member
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