Picaresque - Dark Publications

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
Picaresque is yet more proof that the Decemberists' Colin Meloy is the songwriter who loves love—especially when it ends in death, ("We Both Go Down Together," "Of Angels and Angles"), disease ("The Mariner's Revenge Song") or in some other tragic way. This CD spends some time in the band's familiar old Europe setting, although Meloy also touches on politics, espionage, and even soccer. (Proving he knows his fan base, Meloy's "The Sporting Life," is the perfect shout-out to the kids who preferred the library to the gym.) Long-time fans will know what to expect from this album, which compares favorably to the other LPs on their catalog, and with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla on board as producer, the band seems poised to reach the greater audience they deserve. If you're not already a listener, don't wait another second to become one. With their remarkable vocabulary and bawdy-yet-literary imagery, the Decemberists are guaranteed to make you smarter even as they make you weep. Pop this in your CD player, grab a dictionary, rock and learn.--Leah Weathersby

Album Description
In the past two years, The Decemberists have gone from unknowns outside their native Portland to success via critical praise, impressive sales, and packed houses. This is their fullest sounding release yet. They blaze through more instrumental variations than can be listed here, for a heightened urgency and depth to the sharply written lyrical scenarios.

Customer Reviews: Read 100 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Picturesque "Picaresque" May 4, 2005
48 out of 56 found this review helpful

The obscure word "Picaresque" is an accurate title for the third full-length album by the Decemberists. If you want to get technical, the word refers to humorous adventure stories, starring roguish antiheroes. Considering the folky pirate sound of the Decemberists' latest -- and best -- album, this seems an appropriate title.

Not that folky-pirate is a NEW sound for them; it's characterized their past music, except for the richly mythic "Tain EP." But the Decemberists amp up their instruments in "Picaresque," making the melodies bigger and louder than before. A few songs like "Espionage" harken back to their previous stripped-down sound, with mainly Colin Meloy and his acoustic guitar. But these are actually the minority here.

From the very first song, the pulse-racing percussive "Infanta," it becomes clear that the Decemberists haven't changed their sound so much as made it faster and louder. Which, it seems, was just the punch that the Decemberists needed in their prior albums, taking their music from good to really, really good. With this amped-up sound, their music seems larger than life.

The songs are also more eclectic than in prior albums, dabbling in accordion sea shantys, bouncy classic-pop, percussive rock, and mild acoustic ballads. The music still centers on Colin Meloy's acoustic guitar, and the lyrics have a feeling of old-world grandeur, sepia photos and dusty literarature. But it's also getting a bit more complex, with strings, drums and accordion often taking center stage.

And the Decemberists get to expand their songs to topics other than, er, acrobats, ships and so forth. For example, they delicate step into anti-war turf with "Sixteen Military Wives," as well as a charming little ditty about a kid having athletic problems: "And father had had such hopes/for a son who would take the ropes/and fulfill all his old athletic aspirations/but apparently now there's some complications..."

One of the quibbles I always had with the Decemberists was Colin Meloy's voice -- it's nasal and a bit thin, a bit reminiscent of Jeff Mangum. But somewhere between this and their prior EP, Meloy has learned how to rein in his vocals. He's not great, but he's definitely improved. In fact, he increasingly reminds me of Jeff Mangum or Kevin Barnes, two imperfect voices that fit in with their music regardless.

"Picaresque" is hampered by a couple of somber acoustic numbers, but the newer, faster sound suits this band wonderfully. "Picaresque" is definitely picturesque.

2 out of 5 stars

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before... May 21, 2005
14 out of 49 found this review helpful

Hmmm...the kids sure love this. Third time's a charm, huh? Pretty simialr to the first two.

Really, this sounds like Jethro Tull's, "Songs From the Wood," which is to say, like "Aqualung" without the rockin', heavy bits. That's no good!

After recently cranking the ass-ripping, scrumtrulescent wonder-phantasy that is "Bittersweet" from Roxy Music's, "Country Life," it's an absolute wonder to me that Bertolt Brecht-esque vaudvillian showtunes and sea shantys are such the rage and so "new-fangled" with all the younguns...

Good but just extremely overrated...

5 out of 5 stars

Best Decemberists Yet August 7, 2005
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

Since buying Picaresque about 2 weeks ago, I think I've listened to the entire album at least 10 times. I think this is the most times I have listened to a single album in its entirety in the last 18 months.

What has compelled me to keep playing Picaresque? At the most basic level, its just a darn catchy album. But there are lots of catchy albums that I'm not listening to all the time. What makes Picaresque more than just a catchy album is that the poppy tunes are layered over rich lyrics and intricate story lines. The Decemberists are known for their theatrically-minded songs often revolving around maritime, sea-faring, Victorian European-esque themes. Picaresque also maintains this theme (especially in The Mariner's Revenge Song, which is one of my favorites on the album). However, as has been noted in most reviews of this album, Picaresque deals with a number of modern themes, particularly (as most everyone who has heard the album has noted) Sixteen Military Wives, clearly an anti-war protest song. However, despite tackling more modern themes, the album maintains its sound.

I've always felt the Decemberists were sort of old-worldy in a hip rock and roll sort of way. I think I had this impression before I saw them live on New Year's Eve 2003, all decked out in 1920's style tuxedos and dresses (the drummer and keyboardist/accordionist are both female) with their bassist playing a stand-up bass rather than a rock and roll electric bass. However, in listening to past Decemberists albums I've had a hard time putting my finger on the definitive aspect of their sound that gives them this "old-worldy" feel. Obviously the subject matter of many of their songs drives this impression, but I was struck that even when singing about "modern themes" they maintained this sound. I think I've finally got my finger on it.

First, most Decemberists songs are instrumentally thick. The addition of keyboards and accordion to most songs adds unique dimensions, especially the accordion whose sound is lacking in most other modern pop-rock bands. Secondly, lyrics show evidence that Colin Maloy, the bands frontman and songwriter, clearly scored really high on his SAT Verbal portion. The language is reminiscent of late 19th fiction and poetry with lines like "Below the tamaracks he is crying, 'Corncobs and candlewax for buying!" This romantic language populates even the "modern" themes. For example, the espionage themed romance The Bagman's Gambit includes, "And for a tryst in the greenry I gave you documents and microfilm too."

What this album does best is supplant these poetic versus of wayfairing sailors, child kings, forbidden lovers, academics, and athletic failures on top of poppy tunes that make you want to keep listening, even if you have no idea what "Picaresque" means. It is able to be unpretentious; it is intellectual while at the same time completely accessible.

And it's a darn catchy album.

(By the way, I had no idea what picaresque meant either, so I looked it up)
picaresque
adj.

1. Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers.
2. Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social degree living by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

1 out of 5 stars

Is this some kind of sick joke?! November 12, 2005
13 out of 127 found this review helpful

Absolutley terrible! dont do it to yourself, run, run far away NOW!

1 out of 5 stars

The emperor has no clothes. August 22, 2006
13 out of 56 found this review helpful

The Decemberists are wonderful performance art, an exercise in demonstrating just how gullible the indie crowd really is. Will they swallow a precious, pretentious, pseudo-english, neo-prog, ren-faire-reject band that delivers lines like "Meet me on my vast veranda / my sweet untouched Miranda / And while the seagulls are crying / we fall but our souls are flying" with perfectly nasal ernestness?

Will they ever.

It's a 5 star practical joke, making up in success what it lacks in subtlety. But if you buy it, the joke's on you.

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