The Decemberists: Her Majesty The Decemberists
The Decemberists have all the makings of one of the next great moody bands from the British Isles. Theirs is a dreamy dreariness of salty tunes, whimsical instrumentation, and a singer whose snotty, Oasis-like whine suggests he could have grown up crooning Dylan Thomas poems. But, despite their London-fog stagings on "Her Majesty," the Decemberists hail from Portland, Ore. But you can't tell that to singer Colin Meloy. Clearly, he sees a Dickensian world of knickers, orphans, shipwrecks, and "chimbley" sweeps as his stage. "And from the floorboards to the flies," he sings, "here I was fated to reside." Meloy's theatrical inclinations soldier on through his songs' waggish diversions, providing a lyrical wardrobe for the Decemberists' period-piece rock. The band's soft parade of accordion, horns, harmonica, strings, pedal steel, organ, and glockenspiel heaps tonal intrigue on jaunty pop and pirate's tales alike. But the band rises or falls with Meloy's nasal accent and literary couplets. Meloy ultimately delivers the magic, even if it only pretends to be Britpop.
