Picaresque parables for your pleasure
Dan DaranciangThe Decemberists
Picaresque
Kill Rock Stars
For fans of: The Smiths, Neutral Milk Hotel
Grade: B+
Final word: When they’re not too smart for their own good, they’re perfect.
Download these tracks: “The Engine Driver,” “We Both Go Down Together,” “The Bus Mall”
Picaresque means “dealing with sharp-witted vagabonds or rogues and their adventures.” No wonder the Decemberists picked such an adjective for their latest album. These quirky rhapsodies delight in stories of Spanish princesses, government spies and vengeful pirates. On “Picaresque,” they’re as playful as ever, led by bookwormy man-child Colin Meloy. This time they both indulge their literary fancies and rein things in for more concise pop songs. It’s an uneven record, but its high points are the Decemberists’ greatest yet.
“We Both Go Down Together,” for instance, is a three-minute love song about a man of “wealth and beauty” and his “tattoo’d tramp” lover. Over Petra Haden’s violin work, Meloy caps off a whole short story’s worth of character development with the simple, beautiful chorus “O, my love, my love!” Then there’s the sublime “Engine Driver,” a down-tempo lover’s plea that sees Meloy and a female vocalist harmonizing over the refrain “And if you don’t love me let me go.” The melody, bolstered by tasteful accordion, fits the lament perfectly.
It’s at moments like these, when Meloy inhabits a character like he’s really lived it, that a true emotional connection is made. “The Bus Mall” is a shining example of this, a tribute to a male prostitute. We don’t believe for a second that Meloy ever whored himself, but lines like “We huddled close in the bus stop enclosure, enfolding / Our hands tightly holding” give the song a stirring, intimate quality.
Not so with some of the album’s more extravagant tunes. Opener “The Infanta” is a typical thesaurus piece full of words like “folderal” and “palanquin.” Similarly, “The Mariner’s Revenge Song” is a tedious, nine-minute excursion, a Melville-meets-Poe mashup of whaling and murder. Right now, the Decemberists remain best suited for English grad students. With a little editing, though, they could be as enjoyable as one of Meloy’s obvious favorites, the Smiths. They’re on their way to a perfect mix of acumen and accessibility.
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