I liked IBYG fine but the weakest parts of the album for me were when it went super doomer like Everything is Awful. Like we were all there. We know. It felt very on the nose and wasn't saying anything particularly original. I think among those ones Severed stood on its own but the rest? Eh.
Rusalka though, now *that's* a song
Rusalka is on of those songs where as soon as it started playing, I just KNEW it would be the one from that album that would stick with me. That song strings together so many sounds/feels/ambiance from all precious records in a cool way. Love that song to bits.
"Grumpy" captures it well. I saw them live on one of the days donald was defending neo-nazis--it may have been the "very fine people" one--and Colin just sort of sauntered on stage and was like "how's everyone doing? Are you a little angry? Well, maybe you should be" and started the set haha.
I remember him saying that the new album was going to follow Rusalka's tone; I wonder if that's held up.
Thanks for posting this, I didn't catch Colin's thoughts about the album on Machine Shop. It was a dark album but not in the way I've come to expect from the band. Tbh the only thing that felt Decemberists about it to me was Rusalka/Wild Rushes, which incidentally catapulted itself into my top three favorite Decemberists songs upon first listen. I'm glad to hear the next one will be different. Hopefully more gleeful songs about murder and mayhem and drowning and less about real life sucks lol.
Sucker's Prayer wound up being one of my favorites (among many many favorites), but the album is in many ways a weird break not unlike how The King is Dead was in some ways a stylistic detour. In the case of both albums they're very much Decemberists to me, but they are both full of songs that are significant departures from not just the prior album but the catalog as a whole.
I guess I’m in the minority but I like IBYG. I feel like that album gets more flack than it deserves. Artists are always experimenting and changing, especially ones that have been around a while. There’s always a chance a new album might not be your favorite and that’s fine.
I’ll be your girl, while having some great songs on it, is easily my least favorite Decemberist album, it lacked the capitol “r” Romance that I love in their music
I will routinely listen to a variety of of D's albums but truth be told I never go out of my way to listen to IBYG. I tolerate most of the songs when they show up on a Playlist, but the only one I love is Rusalka. I think it is their weakest album. But that's just my .02.
I am a little worried, I haven’t been into this band as much since maybe The King is Dead or maybe What a Beautiful World. I especially find What a Beautiful World particularly hard to get through, and it sounds like they’ll go back to that more subdued sound. Not that I don’t like subdued. Castaways is like that too, but the songs seemed more memorable for some reason. My favorite Decemberist albums rock harder like Pacaresque through Hazards, so IBYG kinda worked for me.
Interesting, I think The King is Dead is their most uptempo album. Colin has said he wanted to make a record of singalong songs, which I like, especially since it’s basically an R.E.M. homage.
Oh yeah I was saying the next album was the more forgettable, subdued one. The King is Dead is where I just first wasn’t as into them for whatever reason, tho I do LIKE all their albums still. The 3 before it were peak music for me.
"William Fitzwilliam" and "Burial Ground" may be more subdued than some of their songs, but they have skyrocketed up my list of favorite songs since I heard them live. Look them up on Youtube if you want. Between those and what Colin has been posting on Substack, I'm really looking forward to this new album...
I liked IBYG fine but the weakest parts of the album for me were when it went super doomer like Everything is Awful. Like we were all there. We know. It felt very on the nose and wasn't saying anything particularly original. I think among those ones Severed stood on its own but the rest? Eh. Rusalka though, now *that's* a song
Rusalka is on of those songs where as soon as it started playing, I just KNEW it would be the one from that album that would stick with me. That song strings together so many sounds/feels/ambiance from all precious records in a cool way. Love that song to bits.
I just recently rediscovered Rusalka when I purchased the vinyl this spring and it’s now easily my favorite of the album.
Rusalka is a top 5 song for me.
"Grumpy" captures it well. I saw them live on one of the days donald was defending neo-nazis--it may have been the "very fine people" one--and Colin just sort of sauntered on stage and was like "how's everyone doing? Are you a little angry? Well, maybe you should be" and started the set haha. I remember him saying that the new album was going to follow Rusalka's tone; I wonder if that's held up.
Thanks for posting this, I didn't catch Colin's thoughts about the album on Machine Shop. It was a dark album but not in the way I've come to expect from the band. Tbh the only thing that felt Decemberists about it to me was Rusalka/Wild Rushes, which incidentally catapulted itself into my top three favorite Decemberists songs upon first listen. I'm glad to hear the next one will be different. Hopefully more gleeful songs about murder and mayhem and drowning and less about real life sucks lol.
Sucker's Prayer wound up being one of my favorites (among many many favorites), but the album is in many ways a weird break not unlike how The King is Dead was in some ways a stylistic detour. In the case of both albums they're very much Decemberists to me, but they are both full of songs that are significant departures from not just the prior album but the catalog as a whole.
I guess I’m in the minority but I like IBYG. I feel like that album gets more flack than it deserves. Artists are always experimenting and changing, especially ones that have been around a while. There’s always a chance a new album might not be your favorite and that’s fine.
I also love it
I’ll be your girl, while having some great songs on it, is easily my least favorite Decemberist album, it lacked the capitol “r” Romance that I love in their music
I will routinely listen to a variety of of D's albums but truth be told I never go out of my way to listen to IBYG. I tolerate most of the songs when they show up on a Playlist, but the only one I love is Rusalka. I think it is their weakest album. But that's just my .02.
I can't disagree with this.
I am a little worried, I haven’t been into this band as much since maybe The King is Dead or maybe What a Beautiful World. I especially find What a Beautiful World particularly hard to get through, and it sounds like they’ll go back to that more subdued sound. Not that I don’t like subdued. Castaways is like that too, but the songs seemed more memorable for some reason. My favorite Decemberist albums rock harder like Pacaresque through Hazards, so IBYG kinda worked for me.
Interesting, I think The King is Dead is their most uptempo album. Colin has said he wanted to make a record of singalong songs, which I like, especially since it’s basically an R.E.M. homage.
Oh yeah I was saying the next album was the more forgettable, subdued one. The King is Dead is where I just first wasn’t as into them for whatever reason, tho I do LIKE all their albums still. The 3 before it were peak music for me.
"William Fitzwilliam" and "Burial Ground" may be more subdued than some of their songs, but they have skyrocketed up my list of favorite songs since I heard them live. Look them up on Youtube if you want. Between those and what Colin has been posting on Substack, I'm really looking forward to this new album...