explained: "Shankill Butchers" "Shankill Butchers" is about the Shankill Butchers, a faction of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The UVF is a Loyalist paramilitary organization. The Shankill Butchers split off from the UVF in the mid-1970s and carried out a series of grisly murders. These are the basis of the song. The Butchers abducted seven random Catholic citizens of Northern Ireland and killed them in the middle of the night by slashing their throats. They also carried out several other shootings and bomb attacks, killing as many as 32 people. Track listing All songs written by Colin Meloy. Bonus tracks "After the Bombs" (iTunes bonus track) – 5:04 "Culling of the Fold" (Tower Records bonus track) – 4:24 "The Perfect Crime #1 + The Day I Knew You'd Not Come Back" (Starbucks bonus track) – 15:17 "Hurdles Even Here" (Starbucks bonus track) – 4:31 Reception The Crane Wife was highly acclaimed by music critics, earning an 84% positive out of all reviews culled by Metacritic, and remains one of the Decemberists' best-reviewed efforts. Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times praised its progressive rock influences with the tongue-in-cheek description "the best Jethro Tull album since Heavy Horses". Stephen M. Deusner of Pitchfork wrote that the album "further magnifies and refines [the Decemberists'] strengths" and that their folk rock has been "honed to an incisively sharp point". It was ranked #41 on Pitchforks list of the top 50 albums of 2006, #19 on PopMatters list of the top 60 albums of 2006, and JustPressPlay named it the second best album of the 2000s. In a listener poll by National Public Radio, The Crane Wife was picked as the #1 album of 2006. Release As of February 2009 it had sold 289,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, close to 100,000 more than the band's final Kill Rock Stars release, "Picaresque." Personnel According to the liner notes of The Crane Wife. The Decemberists Colin Meloy – vocals, guitar, bouzouki, percussion Chris Funk – guitar, pedal steel, bouzouki, banjo, hammered dulcimer, hurdy-gurdy, percussion, backing vocals Jenny Conlee – piano, Wurlitzer, pump organ, Hammond organ, Moog synthesizer, accordion, glockenspiel, percussion, backing vocals Nate Query – upright bass, electric bass, cello, percussion, backing vocals John Moen – drums, percussion, backing vocals Additional musicians Laura Veirs - duet vocal on "Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)" Eyvind Kang - viola, violin Ezra Holbrook -