The Decemberists: The Crane Wife

I bought this album this morning despite seeing a bus stop bench advertisement for it on every block here in Los Angeles. Having enjoyed prior efforts Her Majesty The Decemberists and Picaresque, I was ready for a little nasaly Colin Meloy while cleaning the house. What I got was a significantly better album than the previous two. The musicianship and production, even the scope (most songs are 5 minutes or longer with two contributions topping 11 minutes each) are well beyond the ambitions of their prior albums.

Will this be the album that puts them on the greater public's radar? I don't think so. There's still something a little too literary and baroque for the mainstream. But the opening tracks, which are much more rock than folk-oriented, could get some attention. Having seen them perform at The Echo, a tiny little club, here's to hoping they don't become prohibitively successful (which I consider playing at any venue that has, say, seating).