Album Review: The Crane Wife by the Decemberists

So this one kind of confused me at first. I was always under the impression, from songs on compilations, that The Decemberists was a pop band. Songs like "16 Military Wives" and "Shiny" sounded pop-y to me. So if you're clued into to their sound you can imagine my surprise. Not that they're not pop, there's just so much more going on here. Really, it's pretty amazing in that Talking Heads slightly prog-rock kind of way. Each song is a story unto itself and compelling.
So yeah, I really liked this one.