Telling Stories
Listening to an album by the Decemberists is a lot like listening to a book on tape, albeit a disjointed one, set to indie pop, that strays from the classic introduction-middle-conclusion format. The five-piece ensemble tells stories while Irish jig, klezmer and folk fuse in the background to create an inventive sound. The tales on the Decemberists four full-length releases come from the brain of lead singer/songwriter Colin Meloy, whose vocals cant avoid comparisons to those of Neutral Milk Hotels Jeff Mangum. Meloy plays the tracks protagonists, and each album has seen him trying new roles.
The varying characters clearly reveal something about Meloy, that we cant leave unexamined. In the spirit of intellectual freedom and postmodern perceptivity, Ive taken the time to analyze his text: Hell, I did spend a year as an English and textual studies major in college. (Thats gotta buy me something more than just a stack of unread Hemingway and a hard drive full of poetry explications.)
Album: Castaways and Cut-Outs
Track: Leslie Anne Levine
Conflict: My name is Leslie Anne Levine/My mother birthed me down a dry ravine/My mother birthed me far too soon/Born at 9 and dead at noon.
Resolution: There must be a few male singers out thereaccompanied by a slowly strummed, steel-string guitarnamed Leslie, but I dont know any named Anne. Thus, we can conclude that Meloy feels he can relate to women on some level; mainly, the level of being birthed. Lets hope hes got sharper pick-up lines on which to rely.
Album: Her Majesty
Track: The Chimbley Sweep
Conflict: I am a chimbley, a chimbley sweep/No bed to lie, no shoes to hold my feet/On a rooftop in dead of night/Youll hear me cry, Ill shake you from your sleep.
Resolution: The word chimbley also appeared in Dr. Seusss How the Grinch Stole Christmas when the Grinch very nimbly stuffed bags up the chimbley! Assuming this is slang for chimney, Meloys song depicts the hard life of a chimney sweep, while an accordion romances an electric guitar to a chugging background beat. But later lyrics from a lonely widow telling the young sweep that she hasnt been swept since the day her husband died might indicate that Meloy specializes in cleaning out another form of, uh, chimney.
Album: Picaresque
Track: The Sporting Life
Conflict: Theres my father looking on/And theres my girlfriend arm in arm/With the captain of the other team.
Resolution: Meloy suffers humiliation in the ultimate arena: the sports field. The bouncing drumbeat that accompanies the scene suggests that Meloy must be OK with his lack of athletic prowess, but it still must sting to watch the coach as He turns and loads the lemonade away. Talk about getting served a big old glass of Hate-orade.
Album: The Crane Wife
Track: O Valencia!
Conflict: Our families cant agree/Im your brothers sworn enemy/But Ill shout my love to the stars.
Resolution: Meloy acts as a modern-day Romeo in Spain? ¡Ay Dios mío! This man must have had a tough run-in with some in-laws. Still, for a tune about an ill-fated match, the Oh, Valencia chorus sounds bright and sunny with the high-pitched keyboard pattern running through the guitar and drum scene.
After this careful consideration, we can now conclude that Meloy has a female edge, needs to get laid, cant play sports and is a victim of star-crossed loveor perhaps that its a good thing I switched majors.
Nov. 3. Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 W. 34th St. (betw. 8th & 9th Aves.), 212-777-1224; 6:30, $29.50.