Reviewed by Eric Saeger
With the one-off ‘concept album’ experiment from The Decemberists that was 2009’s Hazards of Love now in the books, the band turns again to the hayloft-indie space while claiming that 3-minute pop songs are more difficult to put together than conceptual magnum opuses. Were he alive, Bach might not agree, and there was a lot about Hazards that was simply too cool for school in a Zeppelinized-steampunk kind of way, but whatever. The yodeling fadeout that closes Calamity Song is pressed against the sort of open-window drivetime mid-tempo guitar urgency native to REM, which is where we should mention Peter Buck, who guests on 3 of the songs. REM can’t be referenced merely in passing, though; pretty much the whole thing is a countrified Fiddle Faddle that many people will assume is Arcade Fire attempting to resurrect 1980s Atlanta (jump-off single Down by the Water flirts dangerously close to ripping off The One I Love). Departures include a grog-and-whaling accordion/fiddle break in the wry mining storyteller Rox in the Box; a nod to Jimmy Buffett in the sedate, Christmasy January Hymn; and some not-unlikeable NASCAR bluegrass (All Arise).
Grade: A-
