The Decemberists are one of those bands that get a lot of respect among certain indie spheres but have never really even made it into the indie mainstream. They have been quietly ploughing away with the indie folk now for about eight years and even though they manage to perform reasonably in America - with their last album reaching #14 in the chart - and with the critics, The Crane Wife receiving a solid 8.4 from Pitchfork, they never seem to make a large impact on the UK music scene.
The Crane Wife, for me, is their best album to date and Yankee Bayonet, their most famous release, is one of the catchiest songs on the album. They've managed to grab the incredibly gifted American singer-songwriter Laura Veirs to duet with Meloy, narrating the discourse of two lovers that have been separated by war. The guitar is wonderfully simple; the drums are so delicate they're barely even noticeable; the vocals are uplifting and evocative. Even though the song is about heartbreak and lost lovers ('Though our bodies may be parted/ Though our skin may not touch skin') the melody and intrumentation make the song surprisingly uplifting. Veirs and Meloy are euphoric in combination, their voices coordinating perfectly in the chorus singing. They sing with great unity, and both of them have stunning voices. It's songs like this that deserve to be on the radio - Yankee Bayonet is catchy and joyful, yet meaningful and complex in nature.
