The Decemberists
Picaresque 2LP

‘Picaresque' is perhaps the most perfect Decemeberists' album to date. It still retains the familiar conceits of Sea Chanties and Victorian Melodrama, typified by songs like ‘From My Wwn True Love (lost at sea)' and ‘Eli'. But it expands The Decemberists nautical palette to include a track like ‘The Sporting Life', a whimsical Belle and Sebastian-esque song about a young inept athlete who dreads going out for sports at school. Even better is ‘Sixteen Military Wives'. This is utterly unlike anything The Decemberists have ever attempted, a perfect anti-war pop song with the catchiest chorus this side of The Beatles. Tt's implaccable beat and minor key verses trip along effortlessly to a military rhythm that soars into a sunny singalong chorus, complete with honking saxophones and tambourines. a final highlight is ‘The Infanta', a cacophony of thunderous drums and appropriately picaresque lyrics that rolls on as implacable and unyielding as a troop of janissaries swarming over the bulwarks of a Spanish galleon. With Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla on board as producer, the band seems poised to reach the greater audience they deserve.

NEW / Released in 2005

Tracklist:

A1 The Infanta

A2 We Both Go Down Together

A3 Eli, The Barrowboy

A4 The Sporting Life

B1 The Bagman's Gambit

B2 From My Own True Love (Lost At Sea)

B3 16 Military Wives

B4 The Engine Driver

C1 On The Bus Mall

C2 Mariner's Revenge Song

C3 Of Angels And Angles

D1 The Bandit Queen (With "Dialogue" And "Tap Dancing")

D2 Bridges And Balloons

D3 Constantinople

D4 The Kingdom Of Spain (Version Prescott)

D5 The Bandit Queen (Version Prescott)