Okkervil River (Have A New Album)
0 Comments Published by Keith on Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 6:25 AM.
This time around, words are by Eric Bolton.
Okkervil River’s 2007 album The Stage Names was one of my favorite releases of last year, so naturally, when I read that they would be releasing a sequel to that record called The Stand-Ins, I was ecstatic. Needless to say this album does not disappoint.
For those who aren’t familiar, Okkervil River play a style of folk-rock distinguished by singer-songwriter Will Sheff’s prose lyrics sung in an emotional fashion, and by the band’s arrangements, which feature accordions, coronets, mandolins, and banjos. On The Stand-Ins Okkervil River crafts a perfect mid-career album. It doesn’t necessarily push the band’s style any further, but rather proves why they were so good in the first place. It also does well in expanding upon its prequel album’s themes about actors, actresses, and musicians, big and small.
After a brief instrumental intro, the band launches into “Lost Coastlines,” an instant classic if there ever was one. It’s a bouncy duet with Jonathan Meiburg, who recently left the band to focus on Shearwater, about being on tour, and it’s simply euphoric. Other highlights of the record include the epic ballad “Blue Tulip,” the synth-based rocker “Pop Lie,” and the closing “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979” The latter is one of the best songs the band has ever written. Resting on top of rolling drums and a memorable melody, Will Sheff sings about Bruce Wayne Campbell, better known to music geeks as Jobriath, a hyped up, but failed glam-rock star who eventually sang cabaret at diners, and then after suffering with aids, committed suicide in 1983. Okkervil River imagines Campbell taking a spaceship and being able to escape the world of failure, wanting nothing more than to “forget the ground.” The song is a masterful achievement, and proof that this band still has much to offer 5 full-lengths and 4 EP’s down the road.
The Stand-Ins will be released on September 9th via Jagjaguwar Records.
Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines (from The Stand-Ins)
Okkervil River - Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979 (from The Stand-Ins)
Okkervil River’s 2007 album The Stage Names was one of my favorite releases of last year, so naturally, when I read that they would be releasing a sequel to that record called The Stand-Ins, I was ecstatic. Needless to say this album does not disappoint.For those who aren’t familiar, Okkervil River play a style of folk-rock distinguished by singer-songwriter Will Sheff’s prose lyrics sung in an emotional fashion, and by the band’s arrangements, which feature accordions, coronets, mandolins, and banjos. On The Stand-Ins Okkervil River crafts a perfect mid-career album. It doesn’t necessarily push the band’s style any further, but rather proves why they were so good in the first place. It also does well in expanding upon its prequel album’s themes about actors, actresses, and musicians, big and small.
After a brief instrumental intro, the band launches into “Lost Coastlines,” an instant classic if there ever was one. It’s a bouncy duet with Jonathan Meiburg, who recently left the band to focus on Shearwater, about being on tour, and it’s simply euphoric. Other highlights of the record include the epic ballad “Blue Tulip,” the synth-based rocker “Pop Lie,” and the closing “Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979” The latter is one of the best songs the band has ever written. Resting on top of rolling drums and a memorable melody, Will Sheff sings about Bruce Wayne Campbell, better known to music geeks as Jobriath, a hyped up, but failed glam-rock star who eventually sang cabaret at diners, and then after suffering with aids, committed suicide in 1983. Okkervil River imagines Campbell taking a spaceship and being able to escape the world of failure, wanting nothing more than to “forget the ground.” The song is a masterful achievement, and proof that this band still has much to offer 5 full-lengths and 4 EP’s down the road.
The Stand-Ins will be released on September 9th via Jagjaguwar Records.
Okkervil River - Lost Coastlines (from The Stand-Ins)
Okkervil River - Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979 (from The Stand-Ins)
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