GIMME GIMME SCHLOCK TREATMENT:
DELTRON3030 RECOMMENDED: The Decemberists – The King is Dead
After disappointing everyone (present company included) with the bloated fairy rock opera “The Hazzards of Love” Colin Meloy and Co return to their roots on “The King is Dead”. This album is full of classic Decemberist strengths: uptempo folksy jams married to hyper intelligent lyrics and that distinct Colin Meloy vocal warble. Their country meets REM sound is heightened even more on “Down By the Water” by the addition of REM’s own Peter Buck and some harmonicas. They’ve really upped their twang on this release. It is the closed thing to country you’ll find coming out my speakers. It makes me want to pop some dip under my lip, put on some Wranglers and buy a truck…a truck that gets good mpgs, comes preloaded with the audio book to David Foster Wallce’s Infinite Jest, and leaves a very small responsible carbon footprint…but a truck none the lessHighlights: This is Why We Fight, Don’t Carry it All, Down by the Water,
Rating: 6/10
