The Decemberists: Crane Wife ReviewThe Decemberists: Crane Wife Review
Could the Decemberists take their sea shanty team of five from indie label Kill Rock Star to Capitol Records without sacrificing too much?
The Crane Wife says yes. The songs roll out one by one with distinctive side-of-the-mouth howl and the waves of accordian notes. That's not to say there aren't "sacrifices." You can tell there is more polish and preen (produced by Death Cab's Chris Walla). They sound more accessible. More MTV-ready. Still good, don't get me wrong. I just hear the same transition in The Decemberists latest album that I heard in Death Cab and Modest Mouse' latest relases. It's that calm before the mainstream storm.
The Crane Wife is a Japanese folk tale where a poor man finds an injured crane, nurses it back to health only for it to fly away. The following day a beautiful woman appears on his doorstep, they fall in love and get married. To make ends meet the wife offers to sew cloths the man can sell in town. The only catch is he is never allowed to see her make them. Eventually his curiosity gets the better of him, and he discovers she is a crane who was using her feathers to create the silk cloths. She flies away and never returns. Lesson: Never peek in on your wife?
The opening track "The Crane Wife 3" finds the subject discovering his wife as a crane (and the subsequent sorrow of losing her). I'm still utterly confused why they chose to put part three as first and part one/two as track nine but hey, it's arty to be out of order.
"Shankhill Butchers" is a slower track and especially chilling when you read the background story. This gang literally went around butchering people with knives if they were Roman Catholic. The leader kind of looks like Adam Corolla from Loveline.
"Sons and Daughters", a jingly upbeat ballad Colin Meloy ends the record with a tasty treat. "We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon".
Overall, this record satisfies the tastebuds of most fans, while definitely becoming more accessible to new ones. While I'm not immediately convinced it's top 10 of the year material (I like to give it a few weeks and make sure it's not just a passing taste), it's definitely in the top 20.
Awesome Lego Decemberists photo by Dunechaser.
CommentsComments
yep - you beat me to it. I love this more than the new Beck album.. but maybe its just a timing thing.
I hate being elitist, but Picaresque and Castaways and Cutouts kick the pants off this album. Perfect crime is terrible, as is When the war came. Summersong is pretentious and bland. Shankill Butchers is contemplative, but lacking. The Crane wife series, Yankee Bayonet O Valencia, and Sons and Daughters i would rate as high points, and i realize that is a majority of the album, but we're talking about The Decemberists here, they must be held to a higher standard than this. I guess As I Rise's time is up.
D-
For the first time there are songs that are downright 'bad' on a Decemberists album. The Island, Perfect Crime, and When the War Came are all unbearable. The rest is nice, sometimes good but only the Crane Wife series are great. Too bad, I really like these guys.
I never thought The Decemberists could get bad... but they have. The Crane Wife makes me want to boycott them forever even though their old stuff is amazing.
No-one's heard of the Decemberists here in England, so I've been having a tough time persuading friends to come and see them on their forthcoming UK tour. If they're going to major on songs from 'the Crane Wife' I think I might stay away too, (or if we all shout loud enough they'll do Legionnaire's Lament, Bagman's Gambit, Grace Cathedral Hill & other favourites). This is one of my favourite bands, so the disappointment is vast.
This album is awesome...I've had it for a few weeks and can't stop listening to it!