Courage Of Others, The

Depressing desolate medieval hobbit rock. Renaissance fair folk, etc. Lots of flute (holy hell, someone fetch Ian Anderson) and melodic/acoustic fingerpicking. Soft-sung, somber male vocals. Very grassy knoll. Very cold packed earth. Very hooded cloak. At times it passes for gloom folk, but keeps bringing up the annoying image of, uh, the unfortunate Stonehenge set piece, if you follow me.

I am copy-pasting a bit from the Paste Magazine write-up of this record, which pretty much says it all:

Whereas 2006’s The Trials of Van Occupanther, the band’s breakthrough, had lazy journalists reaching for phrases like “modern Fleetwood Mac” or “East Texas Radiohead,” Courage has this lazy journalist reaching for “Baroque Sabbath.”

try: 1, 2, 6
no FCCs

*1. full sound, mid-slow. lilty melancholy picked guitar. gloomy low male harmonies.
*2. stake-driving, conjuring waltz. insistent, slow headbang beat. complex bellsy fingerpicked guitar. electric guitar solo takeover near the end.
3. reeds & bells & melodic electric guitar. very mellow and sleepy. cue the enchanted forest. merlin digs this song.
4. 3/4... mostly. twined guitar lines + tambourine. lyrics a la spoken vows. somewhat jarring time signature.
5. pleasant enough acoustic camp song. (see: “free to be you and me”) could be a go-betweens track.
*6. ~13 sec to main event. full band luller. gets a little prog-rock, heavy guitar, actual drum kit. “i only want to be left to my own ways”.
7. mid/uptempo. rock steady drum kit and busy twiney guitar. surprisingly full & melodic chorus.
8. oh, that sounds like a harpsichord. melty electric guitar. high-pitched doubled chick vocals. sound & power builds throughout. ends with flute solo.
9. fade-in electric guitar. heavier and louder than most tracks. melodramatic, but not in a bad way.
10. shackle tambourine, flute melody, gentle vocals. electric guitar freakout near end.
11. shaky start. flute + piano, then mostly fingerpicked guitar. tempo picks up for a rocky windblown effect -- verymuch “at sea”. somewhat long fade out.