When my friend invited me to The Decemberists show at UCLA’s Royce Hall, here’s what I agreed to (from the band’s website): “The debut of Here Come the Waves: The Hazards of Love Visualized, a collaboration between the band and four filmmakers, Guilherme Marcondes, Julia Pott, Peter Sluszka, and Santa Maria—each of whom have created animation to accompany a section of the album.” Sounds rad, right? It was.

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The Nocturnes are quick to demolish ideas of Chopin and wistful pianos—by the end of the first song “I Love the Lighthouse Keeper,” 1970s prog rock is clearly a better fit than the 19th century. Non-standard time signatures and abrupt shifts and some unexpected use of synthesizers are all constants on this album, but their aesthetic extends beyond that genre, too. For a duo consisting of Emma Ruth Rundle and Daniel Yasmin, they pack a lot of different sounds into A Year of Spring. Think Sonic Youth, Zeppelin, and maybe even a dirtier, less classical-minded My Brightest Diamond, and you wouldn’t be too far off the mark.

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