The Decemberists Have A Story To Tell About The Hazards of Love

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In the same vein as "I heard of them first," people love to talk about how a band gets back to their musical roots. The Decemberists take that one step beyond with their music and go all the way back to musical roots in general. Like the minstrels and poets of ancient times, The Decemberists layer their tales with music. If steampunk had a sound, The Decemberists might be it with their lyrics telling stories from long ago and far away, and their dark, Victorian aesthetic. Perhaps the steampunk sound would have more of an industrial edge, but the core of the movement and this band share a lot.

The band's newest album, The Hazards of Love, is a rock opera that tells the story of a woman named Margaret who falls in love with a man who lives in the forest but is kidnapped by the forest's Queen. A rock-opera alone isn't a novel idea, but it is an especially fitting format for a release from a band known for their mastery of the musical narrative. The love story is told before an indie-rock, slightly folk sounding, emotional and musical background that, while each song on the release is a progression of the story, gives the individual songs enough weight to stand on their own.

The Hazards of Love might be a great entry-point into the band's catalog since you can fully appreciate and indulge in their storytelling that makes has gotten them noticed in the (ironically?) crowded indie scene. They are starting to build steam within the rock community and with this release and their March 18 show at South by Southwest we will probably be hearing more about these guys. As a newcomer to The Decemberists The Hazards of Love motivated me to dig through their past releases for more, so I give The Hazards of Love four crooked tree branches our of five.