My impression is that this is a little-known group, so I’m not expecting to get many replies. If there’s anyone, though, say so so we can talk about it.
I just can’t get into them because they seem like a 100% Neutral Milk Hotel ripoff - consciously anachronistic songwriting, the same instrumentation, and Colin intentionally affects a singing voice that sounds exactly like NMH’s Jeff Mangum.
I’m not that much of a fan, but as soon as I clicked on this thread, the one song of theirs I have started playing. Oo, weird.
Gee, and I thought you were talking about a former (now banned) Doper.
I’ll leave now.
I thought you were referring to the 19th Century Russian revolutionaries.
My mistake.
I wouldn’t call them “little-known” exactly. Most of my friends have at least heard of them - then again, we’re college students who listen to underground music. I have both of their full-lengths, neither of which are “must plays” for me but both are enjoyable listens. Of the two, I probably like Her Majesty the Decemberists a little better, but that’s the one I got first and have listened to the longest. Favorite songs by them are “July, July!” “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect,” “The Chimbley Sweep” and “The Sodiering Life.”
Yeah, I see what you mean. I’ve always thought of them as half-way between Neutral Milk Hotel and Robyn Hitchcock, with some Belle and Sebastian and pirate music thrown in. They aren’t the most original band in the world, but they’re a fun band and Colin Meloy really can turn a phrase.
They played at the TLA here in town a few months back, and I missed them. I’m a huge Neutral Milk Hotel fan and never saw the similarity.
I’ve only heard a couple of their songs that I downloaded legally off of emusic. I like Here I Dreamt I Was An Architect ok, but hated a cover they did of Bjork’s Human Behavior. Should I bother trying to download more?
Being a huge Neutral Milk Hotel fan, Amazon always recommends Her Majesty, The Decemberists. I pose this question: Is that the album I should get, or is there a better one? What are some key tracks?
This post has been Decembered by the Decemberist!
I like Her Majesty the Decemberists and Castaways and Cutouts pretty equally. My favorite songs are probably The Legionnaire’s Lament (off C&C) and The Chimbley Sweep (off HMtD). Normally I don’t pay much attention to the lyrics, but I really like these. I also like the use of accordian.
The Decemberists came to play near my school a few months ago, but unfortunately I had no transportation and also an exam. Dang. Hooray, they’re coming to Chicago on January 19th! Crap, that’s a Wednesday and I’ll already be back at school. Such is life…
My girlfriend’s daughter saw them up in 'Frisco not long ago. She seems to like them, but I have never heard anything they have done.
I’ll have to give it a listen next time she comes over.
They’re not my favorite band, but they’re very, very good. The one problem is that they seem to be continually paddling around in a lake overshadowed by the mountain of Neutral Milk Hotel.
As many times as I hear the comparison, I can not for the life of me find such an overwhelming similarity between them and NMH. I don’t think Meloy sounds like Jeff Mangum. I find almost all of Neutral Milk Hotel’s lyrics to be very abstract and almost all of The Decemberists to be stories clearly told. They fall in the same genre I suppose, but I don’t think they’re as similar as everyone seems to suggest.
That said, I like them. Not as much as Neutral Milk Hotel, but I think Meloy is a good songwriter and both albums have several good tracks. My only complaint is that they aren’t consistent. On each album I really like 3 or 4 songs, think 3 or 4 are ok, and I’m bored to tears by the rest.
It’s not that I have a problem with derivative music - I think the world could use more Robyn Hitchcock and Magnetic Fields ripoffs - but “In the aeroplane over the sea” is so special and personally important to me that I can’t help but react with hostility to such a calculated attempt to ride on that album’s popularity.
Colin: “Hey, guys - Jeff Mangum isn’t releasing records anymore. Here’s our chance!” :wally
I’ve never heard of Neutral Milk Hotel, but I’m not planning on listening to them. There’s no excuse for that name even if they sound like a choir of angels. And “Jeff Magnum?” Sounds like a gay porn star moniker to me.
In this case, ignorance is not bliss - please, please, please if you ever get a chance pick up or listen to In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. So far, I have yet to find one person despise that album; there just doesn’t seem to be anything to hate.
It’s not “Magnum,” it’s “Mangum.” :wally
I think the Decemberists are pretty well known, and I have a soft spot for their The Tain EP.
Oh man Paul… your aversion to the name is resulting in you missing out on what is very possibly one of the best albums ever recorded.
That’s a shame.
Alright, alright, I’ll listen to them.