The Decemberists

In 2011, the track "Down by the Water" from the album The King is Dead was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 54th Grammy Awards. The group's songs range from upbeat pop to instrumentally lush ballads, and often employ instruments like the accordion, Hammond organ, Wurlitzer organ, and upright bass. In its lyrics, the band eschews the introspection common to modern rock, instead favoring a storytelling approach, as evidenced in songs such as "My Mother Was a Chinese Trapeze Artist" from the 5 Songs EP and "The Mariner's Revenge Song" on Picaresque. The band's songs convey tales ranging from whimsical ("The Sporting Life") to epic ("The Tain") to dark ("Odalisque", "The Rake's Song"), and often invoke historical events and themes from around the world ("Yankee Bayonet", "The Bagman's Gambit"). On their website, the group claim that their official drink is Orangina, that they love the video-game Bioshock and "adore" the bands Norfolk & Western, Explosions In The Sky, The Postal Service, The Long Winters, Death Cab for Cutie, Dokken, Ulrich Schnauss, El Ten Eleven, The Shins, The Octopus Project, Electrelane, Camera Obscura, Clearlake, The Thermals, Modest Mouse, Swords and Earlimart. The band's official biography, keeping up their reputation for grandiloquence, also describes how they met in a Turkish bath. A footnote following the biography claims, "The Decemberists travel exclusively by Dr. Herring's Brand Dirigible Balloons." Colin Meloy has listed Anne Briggs, Nic Jones, and Shirley Collins – who led the 1960s British folk revival – as major influences on The Hazards of Love. Meloy has also confessed a "slavish love" for Morrissey, one of his principal influences. The band has also cited their liking for Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the pop tunes of R.E.M. and XTC. The band also draws inspiration from British and Irish folk music.