Who said that The Decemberists sound like The Church? Well, I did in that first sentence.
There are a few places that I go to check out new music and today’s travels took me to brooklynvegan’s post about a recent NYC gig that The Decemberists played. Engine Driver is posted at the top of the page and it sounds so much like The Church, well I just had to say something.
I mean, ok, I’m really trying to focus on music that is happening today. My post on the complete recorded works of Rush was fun, but I want to look to the future, take a closer look at what’s actually happening these days to see where the music world is heading. I hope that has been obvious in the past few posts, yesterday’s in particular. And even though Rush has a huge fan base, they are not likely to change the course of music again. Same with The Church. Both groups are actually working, although in The Church’s case it’s been about one year since the last CD.
But this is about The Decemberists, really. Engine Driver, from their 2005 CD Picaresque, is really beautiful and makes me think about The Church & Marty Wilson Piper, about other bands working today, and about Portland, OR.
I’m not sure exactly how to articulate this without having to deal with Harold Bloom’s work on influence in poetry, but there is something very strong between the overall vibe of this tune and some tracks on The Church’s CD Starfish (was it Reptile? Or Under the Milky Way?) , and Gold Afternoon Fix (again, which tune – Laughing? Metropolis?). And there is a Marty Willson-Piper CD called Rhyme that I had eons ago that I had – and loved – I think it was the tune St. Germain that this reminds me of.
The Decemberists are another critics’ darling band, loved by (it seems) everyone. Interpol (more on them later, I think) is another one, and let us not forget the totally cool Blonde Redhead. Anything in common? Not really, these groups are just “now” instead of from the 20th century (and they are not from 2112 either).
But Portland, OR is starting to scare me. The Decemberists are from Portland, as is Menomena (see my previous post on them), and there are at least two more totally incredible groups in Portland: MarchFourth Marching Band and the Lions of Batucada (my sister-in-law is in both). Something is definitely happening in Portland that all the other music scenes need to learn from…
Thanks again,
Rick McLaughlin
Am I the only one who thinks the Decemberists need a first-class instrumentalist to round them out? I like their songs, but when I listen, it sounds like stripped-down prog to me. It reminds me of how the Flaming Lips reached back to prog (especially on The Soft Bulletin), but the Flaming Lips have Steven Drozd, with his amazing drum sound, mellotron, orchestral samples, elegant piano… all those semi-virtuoso tonal touches. As much as I like the Decemberists, I keep waiting for the songs to break away to wailing guitar solos, or soaring Moogs, or odd-meter breakdowns, and they just… don’t. With the right instrumentalists, they could be the new Genesis (real Genesis, not Phil and the Mechanics).
Hey Dave,
There is no question that the music is so good that it could grow – it’s so organic already. I don’t know if I would send them to Prog-land, but it sure seems like great cover material for a Bad Plus oriented group.
Thanks,
Rick