decker. @ Crescent Ballroom

The snare drum hits that open Sedona-based decker.'s forthcoming new record, Slider, sound like shotguns. It's an appropriately menacing sound for what follows, as singer/songwriter Brandon Decker seethes: "I burned the boat / I swam ashore / I'm out of breath / I slammed the door / I laid the...

By Jason P. Woodbury

December 20, 2012

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The snare drum hits that open Sedona-based decker.'s forthcoming new record, Slider, sound like shotguns. It's an appropriately menacing sound for what follows, as singer/songwriter Brandon Decker seethes: "I burned the boat / I swam ashore / I'm out of breath / I slammed the door / I laid the whore / And I did it best," over swelling church organ, rattling guitars, and that firearm percussion. It's a bold step in a more bombastic direction, but elsewhere on the album, Decker slips into the downcast soul that made his 2011 record, Broken Belts, Broken Bones, stand high above the folky troubadour crowd. It's hard not to hear the psychic scars of the band's traumatic van crash in August, especially on the aptly titled skeletal song "In the Van." Indeed, Decker says the incident left the band shaken, but also with a sense of resolve. "Of vast significance, this album got finished on the heels of our almost tragic accident, and the completion of it is this tangible accompaniment to the courage in recovery that [vocalist] Kelly [Cole] has shown," Decker pens in an announcement that Slider will see global distribution by Digital Syndicate Network. "Of any record, this one has the most meaning to us."

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Jason P. Woodbury is a music and pop-culture writer based in Phoenix. He is a regular contributor to the music blog Aquarium Drunkard and co-host of the Transmissions podcast.

Contact: Jason P. Woodbury

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Twitter: @Jasonpwoodbury