The idea of a concept album in tribute to the 60's British folk revival - for this is the central conceit of the The Decemberists' latest - is bizarre, indulgent, pompous and potentially alienating. Even though we're experiencing an era of music where anything goes, including a number of performers with direct lineage to said genre, Colin Meloy has gone one step further with 'The Hazards of Love' and produced something entirely accurate and anachronistic at the same time.
So the first question must be: has he pulled it off? Or has the man who holds an esteemed place in the annals of US college rock taken his metaphorical songwriterly cock and pissed crudely over all those who frothed over about 2006's 'The Crane Wife' on their blogs.
The simple answer is yes. Well actually, it's yes and no. Which is not really a simple answer at all, is it? Let me explain. For the record, I'm not a particularly enthusiastic supporter of The Decemberists - there's always been something cloying and earnest about Meloy's songwriting for me. Perhaps it's too controlled, too deliberate at times; I simply never developed that emotional connection and respect that many others seem to have in reserve for him, especially those Pitchfork-loving Meloy fanatics who seemed to be all over the web like a rash a few years back.
So in the spirit of complete surprises, I'm finding that 'The Hazards of Love' is, for me, the most compelling thing The Decemberists have done to date
The central concept of the record - manifested through the story of a woman named Margaret who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal - fused with the genre tilt, a clean production from wonderboy Tucker Martine and Meloy's academic songwriting brings a certain musicality to the album that tends to veer from Rogers and Hammerstein to early REM via patches of heavy metal. In print, Meloy has referenced the relationship between British Folk and the emerging 1970's British heavy metal scene, noting that Sandy Denny had sung on Zepplin's 'Battle for Evermore". This might sound somewhat smug and a little overly studied but somehow, the whole mix works just fine.
There are some standout tracks - 'The Hazards of Love 2 (Wager All)' could have the makings of a fine single if it were lifted and given a proper ending - and a fine cameo from Lavender Diamond's Becky Stark on 'Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)', sparring nicely with Meloy. I like the weird 'The Queen's Reubuke/The Crossing' too, which sounds like Sandy Denny accidentally hit the thrash pedal. There are also a wealth of unexpected plunderings, conscious or otherwise: 'Margaret in Captivity' rips off Richie Sambora's opening riff from Bon Jovi's 'Wanted: Dead of Alive' to pleasing effect and 'A Bower Song' reminds me of Mansun's 'Six' - another 'concept' record which threatened to suffocate itself under the preposterous of its own theme. While this record is indulgent, pompous, camp, and corny, those things ultimately don't matter - it's arguably the most fun set of tracks that The Decemberists have put on record. Hell there's even a chorus of children on 'The Hazards of Love 3 (Revenge)' and by choosing to play with repeating melodies, scattered liberally through the album, there is at least some sense of cohesiveness other than the conceit of the record, which wouldn't sustain interest alone.
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Even the lyrics can't be taken seriously - just try and digest lines like "I was wedded and it whetted my thirst". They don't flow easily through one's waxy tubes. But I like that 'The Hazards of Love' takes itself ridiculously seriously at times. Had it tried to amuse or pitched itself somewhere between an indie record and the folk concept Meloy has attempted to create, it simply wouldn't stand up in any form.
What Colin Meloy's labour of love leaves you asking is what happens next? Where can one go from such a place? Can we expect The Decemberists added to the bill at the 2010 Fairport Croredy Convention. Now that would be a delicious show...
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