Did Panic at the Disco give their now unnecessary exclamation point to Colin Meloy? It sure seems like it, with Colin Meloy Sings Live! from The Decemberists’ frontman. The album follows Meloy through two weeks of touring and includes 17 acoustic tracks; however, this album will be appreciated only by those Meloy fans who were at the shows in the first place.
Fortunately, the album is a comprehensive work, including pieces not only from The Crane Wife but also from albums released by Meloy’s first band, Tarkio. He even managed to incorporate tributes to bands ranging from The Smiths to Fleetwood Mac. Two tracks are just stage banter, and Meloy often goes off on tangents about things as random as stage props or stuffed animals. But the crowd laps it up, even cheering incessantly when Meloy introduces “Dracula’s Daughter” as the “worst song” he’s ever written.
The heavy acoustic set brings to mind other champions of the lo-fi world, such as Neutral Milk Hotel and The Mountain Goats. The muted instrumentals of “Devil’s Elbow” don’t disappoint and appropriately pepper a story about Meloy and his friends in “some dream,” climbing hills in “naked feet.” Choosing the more accessible songs from his repertoire, listeners won’t need a graduate degree or a Russian-English dictionary to appreciate the lyrically woven fantasy.
However, songs such as “The Gymnast, High Above the Ground” call into question whether Meloy was taught more than one chord progression, and when he forgets the lyrics, things get even more embarrassing. Meloy redeems himself, though, with a powerful rendition of “We Both Go Down Together.”
Meloy’s imaginative songwriting and theatrical persona serve him well in his self-proclaimed element: the live show. Once you get past the annoying inevitabilities of one man who supposedly travels in a hot air balloon with free reign on a microphone, the sparse instrumentals and charged vocals pick up the slack. If fans were wondering after his declaration on Her Majesty the Decemberists if Colin really is “meant for the stage,” this album answers loud and clear.
diversions@dbk.umd.edu
RATING: 2.5 STARS OUT OF 5
