Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
4/5
By: Alex Lee Thomson
Any fan of Radio 6 will have undoubtedly heard the first single form this incredible album played ad infinitum over the past month or so, and it's with just cause that 'Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe' has had its airtime. The single, and opening track on this short but punchy album, has the vocal anger of Conor Oberst, drunk, singing over a collection of Killers b-sides circa 'Hot Fuss' with the power-pop, alt-country songmanship Brandon has long since abandoned. This has the strength that Bright Eyes were missing on 'Cassadaga' with a simple, classic delivery that opens up into a magnetically driven, super-charged animal of an anthem that gets more redolent as it progresses, faux ending and all.
Alas, yes, it's another tragic tale of an album opening with its best track, leaving the rest of this LP to catch up - which it doesn't quite do. But after this song you're already in awe of Okkervil River, and while the following tracks don't hold as much weight, they come pretty gosh darn close.
'Unless It's Kicks' tries to keep the pace and with being built around one mighty thump of a bass drum, it does quite nicely. The song, like the album in general, has rough production, especially on the vocal, which makes this exciting and again harks back to when people found the Killers exciting, only it's more expansive, less Oasis than it is Jackson Browne.
That the old meets the new on here is wonderful and a break from the post punk which has occupied a lot of American bands over the past decade, 'Stage Names' certainly showing more of the bands Texan roots that find a basis in storytelling. That's certainly true for 'Savannah Smiles', a delicate and endearing track that sucks you in to the story being told rather than the dance-frenzy aimed for by previous tunes. "Midnight, late last week, my daughters diary, didn't know what it might be until it was open" draws you in with a simple bass and childlike bell chimes that show Will Sheff as a credible song writer who could quite well compete with the likes of Morrissey.
A few comparatively lifeless songs later, including a Spiritualized-esque 'A Girl In Port', a close but no cigar rock 'n' roll number 'Plus One' and the confusing 'Title Track' which shows more melancholic electricity and imaginative lyricism, it all then closes with the most basic arrangement here, which works tremendously well and wraps the story up nicely. The warmth of 'John Allyn Smith Sails' has a bouncy verse and anthemic chorus that best displays this albums versatility, the big, boldness of nu-pop with the heart, storytelling and trialling of country, the blues with modern indie. It closes in a soaring freefall of vocals, competing clatters of drums, frantic guitars and Johnny Cash-isms that don't quite go together but sound right as this entire LP does.
Clichés abound on here, off notes and strange mixtures of genres, being loud when it should be quiet and vice-versa, but the band pull it together and have formed a collection of songs that sound unique, remarkably so. Nobody else has as much oomph, passion and control, purveyed in such an effective way, as Okkervil River at the moment. So you can forgive whatever plagiarisms they may have adopted. At times 'Stage Names' is as brash as Meat Loaf and yet at others as harrowing as Leonard Cohen, and to have diversity like that on what is in essence a very simple country rock album should at least ensure a certain level of success.
Stream nine tracks from 'The Stage Names' HERE.
Artists in this article: Okkervil River
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