The Decemberists

"I'm a poor, drunken orphan with nowhere to go but the grave," wailed a waifish and non-plussed Mr. Chris Funk as he lay supine by the railroad tracks. The crate of records he had been cradling in his nubile appendages now lay in pieces on the ashen ground, his complete collected recordings of sixties psychedelic luminary Rick "Paisley Dave" Rigmore scattered hit her and yon like so many dead leaves beneath a diseased elm. Noting his neglect to accredit this phrase to its rightful owner, chief engineer Jenny Conlee, her accordion neatly strapped to her back, stepped lightly from the caboose and corrected his negligence with the aplomb only an immigrant Hungarian could muster: "Dylan Thomas, sir! Please move along!" But it was too late: an indelible bond had been soldered in that moment of recognition. A few hours later, in a Turkish bath, they revealed their stories to one another between sips of a strange, tangerine liqueur. Not far from that spot, however, two young military dignitaries (Rachel Blumberg, Nate Query), appropriately lathered, overheard our two heroes' stories. Was it chance, then, that lead the four unsuspecting bathers to seek to return their soiled undergarments at the same kiosk where worked the poor, bespectacled Colin Meloy? One can surmise all one wants, but the truth should be known that, after adopting the moniker The Decemberists, these five wan vagabonds began playing their peculiarly styled pop music in various concert-halls and brothels all across the globe."

Umm, ... Sure. You may have noticed in the above text taken from The Decemberists web site on the Origins of the band that This is yet another album that Chris Walla from Death Cab For Cutie has had a production hand in. If you got that far. The relatively recent success of the Decemberists definitely coincides with the w upswing of indie music on the mainstream with the before mention DCFC and The Arcade Fire and the Shins, and Modest Mouse to name a few. Which I am all for. Indie music is great. It provides a fresh perspective on modern music by stripping away a lot of the flashy production values that sometimes can become sickening when listening to many mainstream acts and gets us back to the core of why we like music in the first place. I love Indie Music!

In small doses.
These same qualities in Indie can also cause it to quickly become repetitive and irritating.

Because it has been generally regulated to back alley coffee shops and bars in various metropolitan areas over the past decade, Indie music hasn't really had a chance to expand under the mainstream money machine which can really add depth to group that would otherwise spoil under the limited scope of home recordings and practice halls in dives and parent's garages. The last time indie was making an impression on modern media was the early and mid nineties with bands like pavement, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, The Pixies, and hard as it is to believe now, Radiohead. Stop and think about that for a moment. Think on how much impact those bands had on the industry and the culture of the time as we know it. That is the power of the indie scene to generate underground swells that shape and design our culture. Indie has been renewing itself and is now starting to reveal what's been bubbling for the last 10 years.

And the Decemberists is one such band.

Colin Meloy leads the Decemberists, a five-piece outfit whose pop sound has listeners comparing the band with the likes of Neutral Milk Hotel and Belle & Sebastian. Frontman Meloy previously devoted some time to an alternative country group before breaking off to pursue his craft as a singer/songwriter in the city of Portland, a period that eventually led to the Decemberists' formation. He also holds a degree in creative writing. In addition to her duties on the accordion, Conlee also plays piano. Funk is the band's newest member. Before Hush Records released the Decemberists' first album in 2002, the group put out an EP of five tracks. Their full-length debut, Castaways and Cutouts was re-released that same year on the Kill Rock Stars label, and the band began to accumulate a serious fan base. 2003 saw the release of Her Majesty, another fine collection of theatrical indie pop with british folk sensibilities that further cemented their growing reputation as a band to watch. The following year they released the five-part epic EP the Tain, based on the 8th century Irish poem of the same name, followed by their third full-length Picaresque in march of 2005.

there is enough free music floating around the internet to get a good sampling of their style:

The Soldiering Life mp3
Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect mp3
The Engine Driver mp3

And Lastly a Wes Anderson Inspired video for
Sixteen Military Wives