The Decemberists Album: “Picaresque”

Since buying Picaresque about 2 weeks ago, I think I've listened to the entire album at least 10 times. I think this is the most times I have listened to a single album in its entirety in the last 18 months.

What has compelled me to keep playing Picaresque? At the most basic level, its just a darn catchy album. But there are lots of catchy albums that I'm not listening to all the time. What makes Picaresque more than just a catchy album is that the poppy tunes are layered over rich lyrics and intricate story lines. The Decemberists are known for their theatrically-minded songs often revolving around maritime, sea-faring, Victorian European-esque themes. Picaresque also maintains this theme (especially in The Mariner's Revenge Song, which is one of my favorites on the album). However, as has been noted in most reviews of this album, Picaresque deals with a number of modern themes, particularly (as most everyone who has heard the album has noted) Sixteen Military Wives, clearly an anti-war protest song. However, despite tackling more modern themes, the album maintains its sound.

I've always felt the Decemberists were sort of old-worldy in a hip rock and roll sort of way. I think I had this impression before I saw them live on New Year's Eve 2003, all decked out in 1920's style tuxedos and dresses (the drummer and keyboardist/accordionist are both female) with their bassist playing a stand-up bass rather than a rock and roll electric bass. However, in listening to past Decemberists albums I've had a hard time putting my finger on the definitive aspect of their sound that gives them this "old-worldy" feel. Obviously the subject matter of many of their songs drives this impression, but I was struck that even when singing about "modern themes" they maintained this sound. I think I've finally got my finger on it.

First, most Decemberists songs are instrumentally thick. The addition of keyboards and accordion to most songs adds unique dimensions, especially the accordion whose sound is lacking in most other modern pop-rock bands. Secondly, lyrics show evidence that Colin Maloy, the bands frontman and songwriter, clearly scored really high on his SAT Verbal portion. The language is reminiscent of late 19th fiction and poetry with lines like "Below the tamaracks he is crying, 'Corncobs and candlewax for buying!" This romantic language populates even the "modern" themes. For example, the espionage themed romance The Bagman's Gambit includes, "And for a tryst in the greenry I gave you documents and microfilm too."

What this album does best is supplant these poetic versus of wayfairing sailors, child kings, forbidden lovers, academics, and athletic failures on top of poppy tunes that make you want to keep listening, even if you have no idea what "Picaresque" means. It is able to be unpretentious; it is intellectual while at the same time completely accessible.

And it's a darn catchy album.

(By the way, I had no idea what picaresque meant either, so I looked it up)

pic·a·resque

adj.

1. Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers.

2. Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social degree living by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

The Decemberists- "Picaresque"

Corey Fry/ Music Review

Perhaps if they weren't so darn theatrical, they'd be the next R.E.M. or something (and singer Colin Meloy pulls his best Michael Stipe in a couple of new songs), but they simply must reinforce the campy elements of their persona like a smiling clown with a painted frown. Heck, the only time the past two weeks anyone has bothered to call my radio show was when I played "The Sporting Life" or "We Both Go Down Together," two of the marvelous tracks from the equally stupendous album, wanting to know who was that band.

The Decemberists thrive on simple melody, intriguing, beguiling tales of periodical costume dramas, and more high end vocab words than you can shake a thesaurus at-Meloy is the best thing to happen to dictionary salesmen since tomato was spelled with an "e." The secret weapon is still the accordion, a highly useful, extremely practical instrument that is possibly the most underrated instrument out there (if there is such a thing).

They kick things off with a sort of "coming to Africa" tale about an infant princess (or more accurately, as the song is titled, an "Infanta") being paraded about on elephants through crowds of worshipers as she dreams of "quiet streams." A high horn calls attention, immediately followed by locomotion-like attack drums before Meloy breaks in with his clean, fey proclamation: "here she comes!"

Curiously, they take us back home on this album, with the middle section set of songs- "The Sporting Life," "The Bagman's Gambit," "16 Military Wives," and "On the Bus Mall"- reading like a broad swath of various contemporary American issues. "The Sporting Life" takes a jumpy, punchy beat to the story of a failed athlete, fallen to the ground, looking at his coach, father, and girlfriend as they express, quite clearly, their disappointment. "The Bagman's Gambit" is all cloak and dagger murder mystery romance, the object of his affection a spy working against the government. It begins simply enough, with nothing but acoustic guitar, but grows and grows to a ravishing crescendo.

"16 Military Wives" is similar in style to "Sporting Life," but is the most political song by the band, with Meloy taking it to the military, celebrities, academia, and everything else involved with the hypocrisy of war (the "anchor person on TV goes La di da di da duh diddy diddy dah").

Perhaps his most interesting and comical yarn this time is the "Bus Mall," a sensitive tale of young runaway male prostitutes, laughing off "quick tricks" and "pocket[ing] pills away." As ever, Meloy brings a perspective to what would otherwise be derisive and mocking; one such boy leaves without leaving a note for his "grieving sweet mother/while your brother was so cruel."

The two best songs, however, are "We Both Go Down Together," a Romeo and Juliet-esque tragedy of forbidden and suicidal lovers, and "The Mariner's Revenge Song," a nine-minute tale of, well, a mariner enacting revenge. Play it back to back with "Shanty for the Arethusa" from Her Majesty the Decemberists, and you'll have the ultimate coupling of sea-faring epic montages. If you need a perfect introduction to the band or even the world of indie rock, start with this one.

Albums like "Picaresque" are one of the reasons I love Amazon. I would never have discovered the Decemberists if I hadn't seen them listed as a favorite of others who liked Death Cab for Cutie - and I would have missed out on a truly unique and compellingly odd set of pop gems. As other reviewers have noted, the Decemberists have a talent for writing songs that seem ancient and thoroughly modern at the same time. It could be Colin's voice, or it could be the eclectic instruments they feature, but whatever the reason, "Picaresque" is filled with enough orphans, beggars, seamen and ministers to be a Charles Dickens novel. At the same time, there are also tales of contemporary misfits - like the "hero" of "The Sporting Life," a hilarious song that will be near and dear to the heart of anyone who was ever picked last for dodgeball in gym class.

Picking out highlights from this collection of small and large masterworks is difficult, but my personal favorites include "Sixteen Military Wives," which neatly skewers everyone from conservatives to liberals to, especially, vacuous network news reporters, and the lurid epic poem "The Mariner's Revenge Song," which should be made into an illustrated comic. Other faves include "On The Bus Mall," which is reminiscent of the fabled La's one and only self-titled album, and "Engine Driver" which sounds like an R.E.M. tune as recorded by Jeff Mangum.

All in all, "Picaresque" is one of those way cool "finds" you love to tell certain friends about - you know, the ones who are open to the idea that an accordion can sound terrific in a rock band.

This is easily my favourite album of the year or the decade. Every song is brilliant and unique. Every time I listened to a song on this album I thought I had heard one of the best on the CD, but then the next I heard would match the last or even top it.

That said my favourites overall are:

'The Infanta' with its blaring fan-fare and spectacular imagery in the lyrics

'We Both Go Down Together' which has an incredibly catchy tune and ttouching lyrics

'The Sporting Life' which is similarly catchy and rather upbeat

And finally the epic masterpiece of the whole CD - 'The Mariner's Revenge Song'. The latter is the best song this band has produced and that means it's one of the best songs produced this decade. At around 9 minutes it never once gets slow and apart from one verse there is no repitition at all in the lyrics as the story unfolds. The song lives up to its title - it is very vengeful and curiously satisfying to listen to.

Some have criticised this album of being overly wordy in the lyrics. Others have gone further and said that the band is arrogant and pretends to be clever. These people obviously would rather the endless, repetitive, bland lyrics that are prevalent in 95% of modern music. Heaven forbid any band should have a vocabulary of more than 6 words...

As one will see, however, by a brief scan down this page, the negative comments are very much in the minority. There are a few people who simply don't get this. Well, their loss. Everyone else seems to absolutely love this album and this wonderful, unique band.

In an age where the storyteller has all but been lost Colin Meloy of The Decemberists continues to write beautiful and haunting epics that hearken back to a time of sequined, laced concubines and shipmates lost at sea.

Picaresque, the latest Decemberists release, is an appropriately named group of stories centering on odd heroes and the endless pursuit of love. Meloy continues to do what he has done so well on previous offerings. Rather than writing simple, happy love songs he writes pieces about death, revenge, espionage, and sports, of all things. Amidst these varying themes is the constant Decembrists style of literary imagery conjuring up rich pictures of ships sailing and lasses crying on shorelines.

What's truly wonderful about this album is that Meloy has chosen some new topics for his writing. Rather than just writing about pirates and prostitutes he writes about spies ("The Bagman's Gambit") and sports failures ("The Sporting Life"). He even tackles modern day issues in "16 Military Wives," a song about American Imperialism and Celebrity involvement.

"The Sporting Life" is one of my personal favorites. It's an upbeat song about falling down during a soccer game. The song talks about the speaker's father having high hopes for his athletic ability, his girlfriend being arm in arm with the captain of the other team, and his coach acting disappointed about putting him in the game in the first place. I wonder if this song is a little autobiographical. I'm guessing that a large portion of The Decemberists fan base can relate to such traumatizing experiences.

I was pleased to see a song like "16 Military Wives" on this CD, or anywhere for that matter. Rather than just attacking the military and America's overseas involvement Meloy attacks self-righteous celebrities and general American apathy as well. I'm glad somebody involved in such a liberal business had the guts to denounce others in that area and actually realize that being famous and complaining about something is completely useless. My favorite lines are "15 celebrity minds, leading their 15 sordid, wretched, checkered lives/Will they find the solution in time using their 15 pristine moderate liberal minds?" How deliciously sarcastic and biting that is; I just love it. Every line in this song is gold and the use of numbers is so elegantly done that they weave together and flow off Meloy's ever-acrobatic tounge; Meloy continues to find ways to impress me. I consider his lyrics to be amongst the most eloquently conceived today.

"We Both Go Down Together" is another gem. It is a song about love in a class divided time. The speaker is a son of "wealth and beauty" and his love is "a dirty daughter from a labor camp." At the end of the song the lovers fall together from a vast veranda, ending their lives in love so their souls can fly together. The song is gorgeous, the lyrics are cryptic, but vividly clear; this is classic Decemberists.

The climax of the album is the epic "The Mariner's Revenge Song." The song takes place in the belly of a whale between the two surviving members of the whale's attack. The speaker is a young mariner; he's recalling the events of his life that led him to be where he is and how the captain he is trapped with shaped all of those events. At nearly nine minutes it is easily the longest track on the album. I won't ruin the story for you as it's much better told through song. I read somewhere that this track was recorded live capturing all of the raw energy of it. The vocal combination of Meloy and guest singer Petra Haden makes this song the most emotionally-charged and spine-chilling on the album.

The music on this album represents a step forward for both Meloy and the rest of the band. The band took all of their old musical nuances and expanded them into a new realm of musical variety. The band chose to include some horn arrangements on this album which gave the music a new and exciting sound. While the horn parts themselves aren't particularly inspired, they also aren't in any way overpowering. They merely provide an addition to the work the band is already doing, ensuring that the band will be able to perform these songs without horns later without any trouble at all.

Everything that seasoned fans have come to expect from the band is still here. If you came expecting the sound of an accordion on a ship's deck or the quiet sound of Meloy singing along to an acoustic guitar you won't be disappointed. This album mixes the cryptic, haunting verses, melodic choruses, and vivid lyrical passages that have brought The Decemberists a devoted fan base and a place in the hearts of music critics across the nation.

A little sidenote to all you trivia buffs: Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie produced and mixed this album. Also, don't miss the "Made In Canada" sticker on the back!