Hats off to my distant hope
A little lie, a puff of smoke...
The Stand Ins,
Okkervil River's follow-up to their critically rejoiced
The Stage Names, is out today. The words are signature Will Sheff; he lives in the songs, and the songs exhale his tragic spirit. This one begins with his voice comfortably accompanied with piano and acoustic guitar, probably his tour favorite
Martin D15.
But if you started the song at five minutes rather than at the beginning, at this song's soaring height, you'd be surprised if someone claimed this were from the new Okkervil River, with that searing guitar shredding and distorting the upper register. Will Sheff can make a song soar on his own, but the addition of Wrens' guitarist Charles Bissel takes some of the songs on
The Stand-Ins to a whole new level. The band follows
Blue Tulip with a sardonic upper/downer, a tough, devastating guitar/synth pop song about the artificiality of pop songs and/or pop
stars.
The Stage Names was my
top album of 2007, and
The Stand-Ins will occupy a position at the top of my 2008 list.
Okkervil River - Blue Tulip (mp3)
):
):
is a haunting search in the center of dark woods, a story of the lost looking for the lost.
was quietly released last month. If you don't have the hundred bucks to spend on the 6-disc treasure, individual singles and alternate mixes are available to pick and choose from on iTunes. 
is out today on Decca/Velour. 
