The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Out & About

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THE DECEMBERISTS
"The Hazards of Love"

Even though a clumsy experiment may not be as instantly appealing as a predictable retread, you can't knock a band too hard for exploring new paths.

Portland's The Decemberists, having released four albums of quirky indie-pop, does exactly that on the ambitious "The Hazards of Love," flirting with prog, classic rock and even heavy metal.

But the group's sudden metallic edge is blunted by the album's underlying narrative: a slightly affected tale of a damsel in distress named Margaret, her noble lover William, and a pair of unconvincing villains.

Without a doubt, the album is front-loaded, starting off with a bang.

"The Hazards of Love 1" centers around alluring acoustic drone and complex chord and tempo structures rooted squarely in the progressive style. It also establishes the album's overriding musical theme, and there are three sister parts to the song further along in the record.

The ensuing "A Bower Scene" employs an identical musical motif, unexpectedly ripped apart by distorted quasi-metal guitars - the first eyebrow-raising moment of the album.

Similarly, on "The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid" and "The Queen's Rebuke/The Crossing," Meloy tries his hand at a roaring blues-rocker, and to a surprising degree of success.

For a moment, it's hard to believe you're listening to The Decemberists, the same band whose first album was an almost entirely acoustic affair.

I guess the premise of the album's tale is historical and literary, but it doesn't exactly scream "fun" and doesn't lend itself well to an album trying so hard to rock.

The idea behind "Isn't It a Lovely Night?" has potential, featuring woozy accordion and lap steel over gentle acoustic picking, but the vocals are too cutes-y to make this one a winner.

Some albums taper off at the end, but "The Hazards of Love" falls off a cliff. The final songs blur together into little more than a tired, murky rehash of the previous tracks.

The noticeable drop in energy probably stems from the fact that the oft-repeated themes and motifs, while fresh and exciting for The Decemberists, simply aren't strong enough to sustain such a long, conceptual album.

VERDICT:

It's refreshing to hear The Decemberists exploring new avenues of sound. But overall, it's too long-winded and dour to warrant much repeated listening.

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