Listening to the Decemberists is like taking a trip back in time. Not back a few years, or a few decades, but way back to a time when the whole village gathered to listen as traveling musicians plied their art hoping to earn enough loot for a turkey leg and ale dinner.

The group's use of old-time and acoustic instruments like the mandolin, violin and accordion contribute to the sonic throwback, but it's really the songwriting style and vocal delivery of Colin Meloy that seals the deal. When Meloy sings on “Eli, the Barrow Boy” about a lad trying to sell coal and marigolds from his pushcart, the listener can't help but flashback to before the Industrial Revolution.

While the Decemberists do plug in, the sound is acoustic, and you get the feeling they would've been quite comfortable playing these tunes hundreds of years ago. Meloy gets lots of resonance out of his 12-string guitar while bassist Nate Query plucks an upright bass, sometimes dragging a bow across the strings as if it were a giant cello.

There are two women (should I say damsels?) in the band, keys player Jenny Conlee and vocalist/violinist Petra Haden, and the group clearly benefits from this female presence. This film was shot in the band's hometown of Portland, Oregon in 2005 – just as they had signed with a major label – so the material here is pre- The Crane Wife. The band does discuss the making of that record in an included documentary.

Extras come in the form of five music videos, but the overall highlight of this fine show is the bit of theatrics the Decemberists get into before and during their fan-participation favorite, “The Mariner's Revenge Song.”

Grade: A