It’s American Dudes With Guitars Tuesday!…

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[4.11]

Zach Lyon: You know when someone won’t stop talking about running water, and you get the urge to pee? This is sort of like that, except instead I get the urge to listen to “The River“.
[3]

Iain Mew: It’s true that by the last album the level of theatrical flourishes and idiosyncrasies that The Decemberists deployed had become completely unbearable, so in a sense getting rid of them wholesale is a step forward. On the other hand, without any of the things which made them stand out in the first place, about the only things they have left going for them here are all musical ideas straight from “The One I Love”.
[3]

Pete Baran: Bah, no succubi, no goblins, no pirates: I went straight to Trading Standards with this Decemberists record. Apparently it squeaks through as authentic concept folk rock by virtue of late doors accordion and the mention of some gaberdine. There’s little here I couldn’t get from early nineties REM, which is fine in and of itself, but who else is going to give me my slightly confusing revengers concept albums these days?
[6]

Doug Robertson: Everybody used to love REM. The past tense needs to be used in that sentence.
[3]

Chuck Eddy: Never figured I’d like anything by this band — probably never gave them two seconds thought at all — and when I heard their new album was a roots/ R.E.M. move, my interest was not piqued. But as R.E.M. songs go, this is both surprisingly catchy and comprehensible; doesn’t exactly go back to Rockville (which is as country as R.E.M. ever got), but comes close. Neil Young harmonica and Pogues old-main-drag definitely help. But that doesn’t mean I need to listen to the whole album, does it?
[7]

Josh Langhoff: Chords and guitar from REM, harmonica and imagery out of Mellensteen, an “anon” from the Magnetic Fields (though at least Stephin Merritt knows to make it sound funny), and Gillian Welch sounds great. A little stiff, but if the whole album was this good it’d be worthwhile.
[7]

Alfred Soto: The appeal of these literate indie staples escapes me. Ambitious in the worse sense, their penchant for prolix narratives overrides tunefulness and aural idiosyncrasies. Here they’ve streamlined their approach, evoking no-name jangle-pop college radio bands from the early nineties. As usual, their caution keeps them from making anything a listener would construe as a step.
[5]

Mallory O’Donnell: It’s only mildly ironic that a band named for a proto-Commie revolt now sounds like the fucking Jayhawks. Only mildly because these guys have always been such transparent tools. But but but! At least, you’ll say, at least they’re not pretending to be pirates anymore! True as that may be, at least pirates are kinda cool. What are they now, Mississippi Riverboat Steampunks? Not so cool.
[1]

Martin Skidmore: If you loved REM’s “The One I Love” you’ll probably quite like this, which is not officially a faithful cover (and stylistic imitation) of it but you’d barely be able to tell it apart from one.
[2]