THE DECEMBERISTS The King Is Dead [Capitol] Decemberists leader Colin Meloy has a flair for fanciful storytelling—but because America is too young to have produced its own ancient folklore, he and his cohorts tend to look elsewhere for inspiration. On its last two albums the band drew on Japanese and European traditions, creating elaborate fairy-tale song cycles. On first listen, The King Is Dead seems the opposite: a collection of scaled-back Americana...