Pitchfork

[Posted Tuesday, October 21st, 2003 04:00:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

According to the Polyvinyl Records website, Wisconsin septet Decibully will be getting their tour on to support their upcoming Polyvinyl debut, City of Festivals, which is due out in stores on October 28th. Utilizing guitar, banjo, drums, harmonica, bass, Rhodes, lap steel, vocals, and other objects possibly found in kitchen sinks, Decibully creates a gleaming, layered mélange that has been compared to a cross between Canyon and Wilco. See if the comparison holds water by checking out the "Tables Turn" MP3 on the Polyvinyl website, or by copping Mates of State's Team Boo, with which Polyvinyl is generously offering a three-song Decibully sampler EP for free. Those nice kids over at Polyvinyl, *sniff*, always trying to give a little more and help out us poor proles. Tracklist:

01 On The Way To Your Hotel
02 Tables Turn
03 We Belong on Rooftops
04 My Lighter and Strings
05 Spiderbites
06 Before The Streetlights [LP-only bonus track]
07 Tied To The Rhythm
08 Skipping Over Goodbye
09 Small Circles
10 Holy Angel Choir
11 Uncle Sam's Yard
12 Your Love Is A Tempo
13 Beyond Hope

The current incarnation of Decibully formed in 2001 as a trio, but swiftly bloated to a band of seven. Their origins lie in a self-released 1999 EP that three core Decibully members made under the name Camden. It was produced by Pele's Chris Rosenau, who would eventually introduce Decibully to Polyvinyl. Camden recorded a full-length, Reel Time Canvas, with Death Cab for Cutie's Chris Walla. Meanwhile, singer William Seidel was helping out The Promise Ring on keys and percussion during their Very Emergency tour, and would go on to play bass on their swan song, Wood/Water. Here the tale of name-changing, member-swapping and side projects becomes too Byzantine and Dune-like for me to relate and for you to care.

Honestly, these guys are out of control; it's like some big nasty musical Ice Storm-esque key party. To limn the nuances of Decibully and their side-projects clearly would require some sort of varicolored flowchart or a PowerPoint presentation that I'm not equipped to deal with at the present time. Suffice it to say that the members of Decibully are very busy playing in many different bands with sundry ill-advised names, and that you can unravel the whole sordid affair for yourself by perusing their Polyvinyl Records bio-- recommended reading for those of you who enjoy the book of the Bible with all the "begats." The currently scheduled tour dates are as follows:

10-21 Louisville, KY - Rudyard Kipling
10-22 Cleveland, OH - Beach Lands
10-23 New York, NY - Knitting Factory (CMJ Showcase)
10-29 Chapel Hill, NC - Go! Room 4
10-31 Columbia, SC - The Village Tavern
11-03 Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge
11-04 Austin, TX - Emo's
11-09 San Diego, CA - Casbah
11-10 Los Angeles, CA - Spaceland
11-17 Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
11-18 Denver, CO - Climax Lounge
11-20 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's Oasis