Boat Rock

Years ago, the band Slint released an album with a song on it called "O Captain, My Captain." Ever since then, countless bands with similar sounds have made records with nautical themes, progressive/jazz instrumental structures, and folk sounds. Mainly June of 44. Jimmy Lucido of the LA band The Strays first referred to these bands as Boat Rock, and the name stuck. (it's possible that he wasn't the first to say it, but he was the first person I heard it from)

The first time I heard The Decemberists, I was annoyed by them. What they were making was Boat Rock, but in lyrics only. Musically, it was just...annoying. The vocals bothered me, the prog-folk instrumentation bothered me, and the way that indie kids were bending over backwards to heap praise on the band especially bothered me. I just didn't see it.

So they have a new album coming out on 10/3. It's called The Crane Wife. From what I've heard so far, I like it. A lot. It's entirely possible that my tastes have evolved, but I think the reality is that the band has evolved into something that's simply more palatable for me.

The vocals are Morrissey-esque, the instrumentation is still slightly folk-prog, but not annoyingly so. The lyrics are still Boat Rock, but that ain't a bad thing. You can check a track from The Crane Wife here. It's called "Summersong." Then there's the band's site, which is here, and if you click below, you can check out more songs on their MySpace page. By the way, the band is featured in the latest issue of Filter Magazine.