January 26, 2011 | 4:50pm ET
Attribute it to a floundering music industry or the fact there weren’t any other big releases last week, but this really just happened: The Decemberists’ latest studio album, The King Is Dead, hit #1 on the Billboard Top 200. According to an issued press release, Colin Meloy and co.’s sixth LP moved 93,567 units in the U.S. in its debut week, which was good enough to give the band their first #1 record.
For context, The Decemberists’ last studio album, 2009’s The Hazards of Love, sold 19,000 copies in its first week. The King Is Dead also doubled the 44,000 units moved by last week’s victors — Cake’s Showroom of Compassion. Nice work.