The Decemberists' front man Colin Meloy has this to say about Morrissey in the latest AV Club interview:

"But in my defense, I remember having a slavish love for Morrissey in the time when he had his most detractors. I think post-Smiths, those first couple records, Viva Hate and Kill Uncle, you were most likely to read snarky comments about Morrissey in the press. And it was always interesting to me—you have an opportunity to be like, “They don’t have any clue how funny he is. They’re just kind of taking it all at face value.” That was the beauty of Morrissey. The thing about him I always loved is that there were certain songs that could be taken either way. They could be serious in this kind of maudlin narcissism, or he was being funny, and poking fun at himself. And either way, you could relate to it: You could either bask in that glow of fatalistic narcissism, or you could think it was funny. I always thought that was an interesting dynamic in his songwriting, and I can only aspire to have that kind of dynamic in my songs."

Read the entire interview at:
The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy - A.V. Club