An impressively eclectic effort that somehow manages to avoid sounding scattered. Co-produced by Chris Walla (Death Cab for Cutie) and Tucker Martine (the Long Winters), the Decemberists' fourth full-length is richer, less immediately catchy than its predecessor. It's also a deeper work that resists snap judgments...certainly their most ambitious so far. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Track Listing:
1. The Crane Wife 3 2. The Island-Come & See/The Landlord's Daughter/You'll Not Feel The Drowning 3. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) 4. O Valencia! 5. The Perfect Crime #2 6. When The War Came 7. Shankhill Butchers 8. Summersong 9. The Crane Wife 1 and 2 10. Sons and Daughters