Spring Break
Decemberists go too far with imagery and creative lyrics
By: Stephen Shepperd
Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: News
The Decemberists' Colin Meloy is a different breed of frontman. Though contributing his acoustic guitar and vocals to the band may have played a hand in making it one of indie rock's most popular bands, what sets him apart is his love for British folk music.
When tearing through The Decemberists' discography, you will come across many songs based on English folktales, as well as cautionary tales and fables created by Meloy. This has been the band's shtick throughout its career. Meloy's keen sense of old English tales, in collaboration with his creative writing degree from the University of Montana, provides a musical style many artists have never contemplated exploring.
The Decemberists' latest release, "The Hazards of Love," goes after one of rock music's most coveted concepts: the "rock opera." Meloy and the gang put together 17 tracks for the new album that was initially slated to become a play, but later had the idea scratched because Meloy though it was "unstageable."
Though unstageable in a theatrical sense, the band took the album to the stage in its entirety on the first night of South by Southwest in Austin.
The story follows a young woman, her shape-shifting lover, a queen of the forest and a rake, who is hired by the queen to capture and kidnap the young woman. This may seem a bit much when it comes to cramming plot into songs, but for fans familiar with The Decemberists' work, it is the usual.
The album nicely shows that the indie folk style the band typically exhibits can be seamlessly morphed into hard rock riffs without losing Meloy's acoustic guitar as the centerpiece. Lead guitarist Chris Funk shines in the tracks "A Bower Scene" and "The Abduction of Margaret," in which he deploys dark guitar effects to accompany the even darker lyrics.
"The Rake's Song" stands out the most on the album because it contains a simple acoustic guitar pattern and appears to be the most radio-friendly. That is until the listener pays close attention to the lyrics. The rake's menacing character is fully explained in this song, telling a sub-story of a man who is left with three children after his wife dies, and sings almost joyously how he plans to kill each of his kids because they were unwanted.
When tearing through The Decemberists' discography, you will come across many songs based on English folktales, as well as cautionary tales and fables created by Meloy. This has been the band's shtick throughout its career. Meloy's keen sense of old English tales, in collaboration with his creative writing degree from the University of Montana, provides a musical style many artists have never contemplated exploring.
The Decemberists' latest release, "The Hazards of Love," goes after one of rock music's most coveted concepts: the "rock opera." Meloy and the gang put together 17 tracks for the new album that was initially slated to become a play, but later had the idea scratched because Meloy though it was "unstageable."
Though unstageable in a theatrical sense, the band took the album to the stage in its entirety on the first night of South by Southwest in Austin.
The story follows a young woman, her shape-shifting lover, a queen of the forest and a rake, who is hired by the queen to capture and kidnap the young woman. This may seem a bit much when it comes to cramming plot into songs, but for fans familiar with The Decemberists' work, it is the usual.
The album nicely shows that the indie folk style the band typically exhibits can be seamlessly morphed into hard rock riffs without losing Meloy's acoustic guitar as the centerpiece. Lead guitarist Chris Funk shines in the tracks "A Bower Scene" and "The Abduction of Margaret," in which he deploys dark guitar effects to accompany the even darker lyrics.
"The Rake's Song" stands out the most on the album because it contains a simple acoustic guitar pattern and appears to be the most radio-friendly. That is until the listener pays close attention to the lyrics. The rake's menacing character is fully explained in this song, telling a sub-story of a man who is left with three children after his wife dies, and sings almost joyously how he plans to kill each of his kids because they were unwanted.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com