The Decemberists understand that referencing the past needn't mean being musically staid and unoriginal. Hence their creakily melancholic mini dramas featuring orphaned chimney sweeps and leg-baring widows draw as much from the fripperies of modern pop as the conventions of old American folk. It's a curious blend: songs, without exception, are well crafted but more often than not collapse into cloying jauntiness. Only "As I Rise" and "The Soldiering Life" carry enough emotional weight to merit repeat plays. Still, it's the overall blend, the looming ghostliness, that impresses. JANE GILLOW
The Decemberists understand that referencing the past needn’t mean being musically staid and unoriginal. Hence their creakily melancholic mini dramas featuring orphaned chimney sweeps and leg-baring widows draw as much from the fripperies of modern pop as the conventions of old American folk. It’s a curious blend: songs, without exception, are well crafted but more often than not collapse into cloying jauntiness. Only “As I Rise” and “The Soldiering Life” carry enough emotional weight to merit repeat plays. Still, it’s the overall blend, the looming ghostliness, that impresses.
JANE GILLOW
