Chat Review - The Decemberists' The King is Dead
By You Can't Hear it on the Radio
January 19, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com

I fervently believe that the others are conspiring to take the cube away from that dude.
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Steve: So, today is a pretty big day for us. The Decemberists follow up The Hazards of Love, an album from 2009 that we both loved, with their sixth long player, The King is Dead. Folks that have had a chance to preview the album streaming on NPR for the past couple weeks are calling this, rightly so, a departure. While I agree with that, I will kick things off with an initial observation about the song "Rise to Me" - with its slide guitar and some of the lyrical references to water and woods, it could easily serve as a redemptive coda to Hazards’ grand finale, "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)". Noah, did you pick up on that bit of synchronicity, and what were your first impressions of The Decemberists' "new" sound?

Noah: I can't say I noticed any connection to Hazards of Love, but that doesn't mean you're wrong. But I will say that in part for reasons noted in this week's Time Magazine article, Rise to Me is one of my favorite songs on The King is Dead. But to answer your main question, the "new" sound was startling, even after hearing Down By The Water weeks ago.

Steve: What about the comparisons to Tarkio? I mean, Colin Meloy has this sound in him, even if we hadn't heard it from Decemberists music before.

Noah: I think they're good comparisons, but Tarkio never had the texture or depth that The King is Dead does. The Decemberists are clearly a more interesting and substantive band than Tarkio (no offense) ever was.

Steve: It takes a lot of confidence to pull off the bombastic vision they realized on Hazards of Love and follow it up with a quiet piece of beauty like The King is Dead. Both aspects of that are pretty ballsy.

Noah: Agreed completely. On first listen, I had the same reaction to both Hazards and King..."whathafuh?" But then I listened again, and again, and again.

Steve: So what about TKID works for you?

Noah: Generally, the whole thing. I like the sparse (by Decemberists standards) arrangements, the Gillian Welch and the Peter Buck. What about you?

Steve: I think it is interesting Colin chose to bring in a female voice (in Welch) immediately after the collaborative aspect of Hazards of Love (heavily featuring Becky Stark and Shara Worden). I imagine he liked the interplay it creates, to give his reedy tenor something to bounce off of. I think Welch's presence makes TKID feel like a project more than a proper Decemberists record, not that that's a bad thing. I think I most liked the harmonica sound throughout the album, which to my ear is reminiscent of The River era Bruce Springsteen, especially on "Down By the Water". It sounds really great.

Noah: I had a similar reaction to adding Welch's voice. It seemed unnecessary after Hazards. But to again go back to the Time article: "'No country-rock record would be complete without some backing vocalist with a clear and distinct voice,' he (Meloy) says, citing Nicolette Larson's singing on Neil Young's Comes a Time and Emmylou Harris' work with Gram Parsons. Welch's soaring harmonies are, Meloy proclaims, an 'homage to the form.'" And in that context, it works for me.

Noah: But I definitely don't think this is the stopping point for the "new" Decemberists sound, I think it's a way station - a necessary reset for the band.

Steve: I'll be candid and say at times on The Crane Wife and Hazards they were getting a little too prog-rock for my tastes, so going alt-county is a welcome respite.

Noah: I'm not a huge prog guy, but I went with them on Crane Wife and Hazards without question and it was rewarding.

Steve: I was intrigued by the implied pairing of the songs "January Hymn" and "June Hymn" in concept. I'm still picking them apart as a song cycle to discern what's going on there.

Noah: As usual, you put more thought into those type of things than I do. Generally, I find The King is Dead to be an incredibly strong album top-to-bottom, but there are some standout tracks for me. Specifically I’ll note the opening foursome of Don't Carry It All, Calamity Song, Rise to Me and Rox in the Box, but also This Is Why We Fight and January/June Hymn. The latter two are a nice reminder of Meloy's skills in acoustic renditions of Decemberists songs. If it's not clear, I love pretty much the whole album.

Steve: So is The King is Dead an unqualified success in your mind or is there anything to find fault with?

Noah: I find less and less fault as I listen to it. But I have to be honest, I'm not sure it will be as memorable an album in their discography for me as Picaresque or Hazards. It makes me lust for what's next.

Steve: I think for me, I have a hard time rating a quieter, more subtle album as a "Great" album, unless it just kills me emotionally like say, Neko Case, or from last year perhaps All Delighted People or The Orchard would qualify. While The King is Dead is impressive in the way it showcases The Decemberists’ versatility, I have to rate it Really Good. Aside from "Rise to Me" it lacks that emotional punch that would push it into Great territory.

Noah: I'm certainly biased, but I think the accomplishment of the successful swerve from Hazards, the assimilation of Gillian Welch's voice and the fact that the whole album works makes it a Great album in my book. "Rise to Me" is definitely a killer. I really admire the stones it took to go from Hazards to The King is Dead.

Steve: You mentioned that you see this album as a way station ... they could really go anywhere from here, except perhaps back to singing shanty tunes.

Noah: Definitely. I'm even curious to see how they'd do shanty tunes after their Picaresque/Crane Wife/Hazards/King is Dead progression.

Steve: I'll make a couple predictions - I see them working with Peter Buck again. In particular "This Is Why We Fight" sounds in its own way different from the rest of TKID, and that's potentially a direction they could take - also, it's kind of time that bands started giving R.E.M. the homage treatment the way everyone these days is drawing inspiration from 1975-1981 Springsteen music. I also see them adding a permanent female voice to the roster, if only to make it easier to play all these songs live in the future, not to mention stuff from Hazards, and "Yankee Bayonet", etc.

Noah: I can see both of those things happening. Their next album being produced by Peter Buck wouldn't shock me. I'm seeing The Decemberists live in about three weeks and have been curious to see how they'd handle the Welch parts.

Steve: I assumed she would be touring with them, but I don’t know.

Noah: It would make sense. I don't believe she's the opener, so if she's along for the ride it's as a featured player.

Steve: I'm seeing their tour as well, so we can compare notes on that. One last pop quiz and then I think we're done - rank the 6 Decemberists albums from top to bottom.

Noah: Off the top of my head:
1) Picaresque
2) Hazards
3) Crane Wife
4) Her Majesty the Decemberists
5) The King is Dead
6) Castaways and Cutouts

Steve: Mine would go:
1) Picaresque
2) The Hazards of Love
3) Her Majesty
4) Castaways and Cutouts
5) The Crane Wife
6) The King is Dead

Noah: I feel like it's a pretty high bar even at the bottom.

Steve: Oh sure... that's 4 Great albums and 2 Really Good.

Noah: My split is 5/1 there. So this is the first album I'm buying this year and it's all downhill from here.

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