Album Review: Okkervil River - The Stage Names

So earlier this year, I sent out a Friday morning email to my friends titled "Metz's top 20 Albums of 2007." This caused a flood of email, emotion, and finger-pointing which eventually led to the creation of this blog. I thought about reposting my list on here, but I read it over, and a lot of it had personal references and things that were intended for a specific audience. So I likely will refrain from reposting that list and you will all have to wait until 2009 to get my next edition. However, one of the fringe benefits of making a definitive best-of list and sending it to all of your opinionated music friends, is that you get a crossfire of albums being thrown around. I consider myself to be pretty ambitious in my quest of constantly finding new music to check out. The problem with this activity is that there are so many new artists that I often pigeonhole an artist based on one song I have heard by them.

So in response to my list, my friend Devon offered a few of his favorite albums in response. Very little commentary was added to the list (which is fine), and most of the artists I had very limited knowledge of. Now just like the way I pigeonhole artists, I also pigeonhole my friends' respective music tastes. Devon has always striked me as the type of guy that would like to put the Talking Heads, the Flaming Lips, Phish, and Jeff Tweedy in a blender, set to puree, and consume out of a martini glass. Weird . . . I know, but don't ask what it is I think about YOU.

So that being said, Devon has suggested a lot of music to me, and I always put it in a certain context (read: this weeks Flaming Lips knockoff). But sometimes (read: constantly) I am fed a big hot bowl of humble soup.

I always knew Okkervil River as a river in Russia (I read this on wikipedia ten minutes ago). I had never heard of the band, shockingly, and I had no idea what they were about. But now I get it, a bunch of guys who live in the woods made a pop record.

So I guess the 'hit' song of the album is the opener, "Our Life is Not a Movie but Maybe." A really great song. The song evokes the feel of an Elvis Costello cover done by Bruce Springsteen in 1988. Good lyrics, driving feel, and radio friendly. Sweet. But things go in many different directions from here.

Something that is going to surprise people about my assessment of this album is that I like the overall album, however I am a bit skeptical about the boys from New Hampshire. What happened to me in the end was that I simply got annoyed with the lyrics. I am a huge fan of simple linear lyrics, but Okkervil has taken this to new heights (or lows). Some of the songs have a great feel, a solid message, and are told with proper accompaniment. Others sound like someone went to happy hour, had three beers, paid their tab, and went home and wrote a song about it. Allow me to demonstrate . . .

"Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe"

It’s just a life story, so there’s no climax.
No more new territory, so pull away the imax.
In the slot that you sliced through the scene there was no shyness.
In the plot that you passed through your teeth there was no pity.
No fade in: film begins on a kid in the big city.
And no cut to a costly parade (that’s for him only!).
No dissolve to a sliver of grey (that’s his new lady!)
where she glows just like grain on the flickering pane of some great movie.

I dig this, and it is seamlessly put to a nice composition. But check this one out . . .

"John Allyn Smith Sails"

I was breaking in a case of suds
At the brass rail, a fall-down drunk with his tongue torn out and his balls removed
And I knew that my last lines were gone while stupidly I lingered on, other wise men know when it's time to go
And so I should, too

I mean if you are going to try to work a guy into your song who takes out his balls, you should at least do it in a way that is smoother than, well . . . a guy at a bar taking out his balls.

So maybe I am being harsh, but it just seems to me that too many of these songs suffer from subpar lyric writing. In the end I wondered if Okkervil may be nothing more than a good band with no songwriter. But all that being said, I do dig the band enough to give them another chance.

So what is positive about the album . . . well actually a few things. The vocals are crisp, and punctuate the songs very well. Think 'Bright Eyes' with more pop appeal. The whole album kinda sounds like the Beach Boys moved to the mountains and traded their surfboards for flannels and long-johns. This could explain why during the aforementioned "John Allyn Smith Sails," they break into two verses of "Sloop John B" by the Beach Boys.

"Savannah Smiles," is an example of how their over-simplified lyrics can work in a certain context. The song is a bare bones ditty about a daughter growing up too fast. It is folky but with vocal runs and melody that have no place in a folk song. The minimalistic arrangement and metronome beat highlight the feel of the song. "Plus Ones," seems like a good idea, borrowing themes from outdated pop songs to make a point (about what, I don't know).

All in all, I dig the band, I get what they are going for, but I am left feeling unconvinced. I picked a few songs to go in my "highest rated" list on my iPod. As trivial as this sounds, that truly is the proving ground for music for me.

So there it is folks. Have a great Friday!



Buy the Album on iTunes