The Decemberists: Always The Bridesmaid: A Singles Series

The next Decemberists full-length, due in March,

has already been touted as a "rock opera," which bodes ill for fans who love

the anachro-rock band at its poppiest and most direct. These six

songs—available on three separate, lovingly packaged 12-inch singles, or

as a download—look back to the band's simpler days. "Valerie Plame," about

the outed CIA agent, is as insidiously catchy as Decemberists songs get: It

isn't great, but it's a massive sing-along, and it culminates in a "Hey

Jude"-style chorus, which suits Colin Meloy's grand ambitions. But elsewhere,

these singles look back to the days of Her Majesty The Decemberists: "O New England" is

deliciously ambitionless, just a great melody line and simple beat, while

"Record Year" offers the sort of spare melancholy that Meloy does so well. An

unnecessary cover of The Velvet Underground's "I'm Sticking With You" indulges

some of The Decemberists' more dramatic, showtune-inspired tendencies, but the

rest of these pleasers more than make up for it.