It would have been easy to write off The Decemberists. Over the years, the Portland, OR band had made a name for itself with its unique brand of hyper-literate, anachronistic folk-rock. Albums like 2003’s Her Majesty and 2005’s Picaresque brimmed with sweeping tales of doomed love, epic blood feuds, and lonely chimbley sweeps.

But by the release of the group’s fifth LP, 2009’s The Hazards of Love, it appeared that the five-piece had finally jumped the proverbial shark. A meandering, overwrought concept album, the operatic Hazards alienated fans with its ponderous story lines and proggy self-indulgence. Yet just when it seemed certain that the Decemberists would forever disappear up their own rectum, they released The King Is Dead. Continue reading…