The Decemberists

"The Rake's Song" is the catchiest, most evil song I've heard in... forever. Something so wrong should not be so full of hooks.

that is all

The first time I ever heard the Decemberists, I was driving from Southwestern Connecticut up to HMS Motorsports outside of Boston to either try out or pick up a race seat. While hunting for a radio station in unfamiliar territory (pre-Sirius), I stumbled upon "16 Military Wives", which I mistook for They Might Be Giants.

From that point forward, that road trip, that song, The Decemberists, They Might Be Giants, race seats, HMS, and that whole area of Massachusetts are all kind of wrapped up together in my cluttered mind. Any one of them will put me back on that road trip in my head.

I'm messed up.

Tim, you should also check out "A Cautionary Song" off Castaways and Cutouts.

I saw the Decemberists live in St. Louis back in '04, actually on the same night as game 7 of the 2004 ALCS. While I was in the downstairs of Blueberry Hill watching the Decemberists show, my fellow Sox fan buddies were upstairs watching the game, and the show let out just in time for me to meet up with them and catch the end. So for me the Decemberists are all wrapped up with memories of the 2004 Red Sox playoff run. A week or so later I ended up getting into Busch Stadium for free to see the end of game 4. There were so many Sox fans just hanging around outside the park who flew/drove in, but couldn't get a ticket that they just decided to let everyone in around the 7th inning as the Cards fans gave up and went home. I saw the Sox win the series live, went down by the dugouts as the team partied and danced on the field and squirted us with champagne for what must have been an hour. I don't exactly mind bringing back these memories :).

I am sort of ashamed to admit that this new album has been out since March and I haven't really listened to it, they are one of my favorite bands from the last 5-10 years.

Excellent band. 'The Rake's Song' is brilliant. When I first heard it on the radio, it made me laugh out loud. Such evil lyrics, sung to such catchy folk/indie rock.

Josh, you have ruined The Decemberists for me.