Reviews
"Shrewder minds among us will be right at home with the complex wordplay and tragic love in 'O Valencia!' and the three-part title track, as well as the new wrinkles of prog rock and art-school funk...", "THE CRANE WIFE is an admirable experiment, the work of a band approaching the thorny major-label issue by willfully mucking with a proven sound.", Ranked #11 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "The band's emotive narratives...feel very much here and now.", Ranked #28 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums Of 2007" -- "With nods to nu-folk, baroque pop and even '70s prog.", 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "The affectations are rendered tolerable by Meloy's unmistakable melodic gift....There's a kick in the way song after song masks his darkish vision in elegantly hooky arrangements...", 4 Stars Out of 5 -- "They Are Twisting the Esoteric Into Arresting and Complex New Shapes.", 3 stars out of 5 -- "It's rendered intriguing by a liberated approach that touches on everything from sea shanties to Jewish klezmer music without ever losing sight of the tune.", Ranked #23 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "With electric guitars, prog-rock bravado and even Seventies funk...", "Colin Meloy specializes in lurid historical dramas....Several of these studies in heartbreak and homicide rank among his most moving." -- Grade: B+, 4 stars out of 5 -- "Meloy's verses are sharp and smart....This is the best-sounding Decembrists album to date."