Words are Dead is the critically acclaimed debut album that started it all for Horse Feathers. Nominated for Americana Album of the Year by the PLUG Independent Music Awards, counted among NPRs Best of 2006, the record became an instant classic and bestseller for Lucky Madison. Paste Magazine described it as a "quiet mix of twang and crumple that instantly bewitched." Pitchfork said it was "a homely relic in sepia tones and rough grains." Recorded primarily as the Portland, Oregon duo of Justin Ringle and Peter Broderick, the album paved the way for the coming indie chamber folkster movement furthered by likeminded artists such as Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes.