PT Bruiser

1. The Hazards of Love by The Decemberists

One of my favorite music critics wrote a review of this album for the school paper when it came out. He talked about how he had been getting kind of bored with The Decemberists’ “shtick” and hadn’t really been very excited about this new album. But this was not yet another album of picaresques, cautionary tales, and other stories told with five-dollar words. This was something new and fresh entirely.

See, The Decemberists here created an album that is more like some eldritch musical—unified, with a story, characters; guest vocalists, recurring musical motifs, songs that seamlessly feed into each other; love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge! Yes, it’s fresh. And it’s good. And it stays good, listening to it over and over again while working on the school’s literary magazine, or putting it on while mowing the backyard.

Plus, I saw it in concert at Cain’s Ballroom. They played it all straight through. I was captivated for the entire hour.  What a trip. What an album. Well done, Colin & Company. I still have faith in you.