The Decemberists may be my single most favorite band of the new millenium. Colin Meloy’s lyricism can seem cloying or pretentious to some but I love it – perhaps having spent the 1990s in grad school myself prepared me well.

Picaresque was their third studio album and the last on Kill Rock Stars before moving to Capitol. It has so many great songs on it, including the nearly nine minute “Mariner’s Revenge Song” that has been the feature of many a Decemberists live show, with the audience providing the screams for the encounter with the whale. I think I could sing this album back to back, word for word.

My copy is a 2021 reissue which (like the 2005 double LP release) includes the “Picaresqueties” EP on side 4. I picked it up at a Decemberists show at Roadrunner in Boston.