The Musical Box

the decemberists: becky stark, shara worden, chris funk, jenny conlee, colin meloy, nate query and john moen.

Aided by a sense of stylistic division that was just shy of schizophrenic, The Decemberists made their local debut last night with a two set performance at the Singletary Center for the Arts that, had your eyes been shut, would have seemed like the work of different bands.

The first set was essentially rock theatre with singer Colin Meloy and company playing the recent The Hazards of Love album from start to finish. There were no stops, no chatty interludes and no real eccentricities outside of the music itself. And even then the frills came mostly through the fanciful - and, frankly, fairly indecipherable - storyline.

But the music was a wondrous slab of magic full of vibrant vocal color highlighted by  Meloy’s nasally but operatic leads, Shara Warden’s meaty bulldozer wail on The Queen’s Rebuke and Becky Stark’s folk-pop melancholy during Won’t Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga).

Instrumentally, though, was where The Hazards of Love got good and treacherous. Harpsichord-like keyboards gave way to a rich, tribal percussion groove on The Rake’s Song. Respiratory-like rhythms of accordion and mandolin peppered Annan Water. And during of a brief reprise of The Wanting Comes in Waves, Meloy and Chris Funk strapped on electric guitars and brought the suite into an anthemic, arena rock-savvy home stretch.

The second set was lighter, looser and vastly more pop friendly. It scanned The Decemberists’ past for the bouncy Brit-pop of The Sporting Life and surprisingly harmonic audience sing-a-longs at the heart of Billy Liar and the show closing, hurdy gurdy-infused Sons and Daughters. Top prizes go to the Indian Summer-flavored medley of California One and Youth and Beauty Brigade as well as a just-for-fun cover of the Heart hit Crazy On You with vocal leads quite rightly reassigned to Warden and Stark.

All in all, it was quite the display. For the first set, you sat attentively as The Decemberists served a feast of new music that was stylish and smart enough to merit active listening. For the second, you were on your feet for rock and pop that happily underscored a celebratory and, at times, refreshingly sillier profile.

Both were a blast.