Okkervil River Album: “Black Sheep Boy”

I too was at the Okkervil River/Decemberists show in Houston, and it's true Okkervil River put on a better show (and that's coming from a huge Decemberists fan). That night openned my eyes to Okkervil River. Previously, I had known them, and liked them somewhat. I liked "Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See", and loved a few tracks from there. While I liked the album, I feel it was a little poorly executed. In some parts instruments were out of tune together, and often Will Sheff's vocals were off key. But it was still a pretty good release.

That's basically the awareness of Okkervil River I went into that show with. After the show I bought their first album.

Fast forward ahead 2 weeks, I pick up "Black Sheep Boy" and subsequently wonder how the **** I didn't pick this up that night instead. This album is really damn good! It's a bit less folk/alt-country then their previous releases, which is actually the only part that bothers me. There is no mandolin! I think some of Okkervil River's best songs feature the mandolin. "West Falls" (my favorite Okkervil song), "Dead Dog Days", "Okkervil River Song", "Seas Too Far To Reach" & "Yellow" all feature the mandolin and are great. That negative aside; One giant emphasis that people should be aware with this album lies with Will Sheff's absolutely brilliant lyrics. If people thought Colin Meloy's storytelling was a high enough precedent for this year, I feel he's now been surpassed...

The best of show is definitely "For Real". Everything about this song is great: the lyrics, the music, the structure and so on. The latter part of the song builds to climatic peak that is just amazing. Seriously, you must hear this song. I love Will Sheff's stories of criminals. They're novel and never really out of line. And on this song he is basically living with homicidal thoughts in his mind. "So Come Back, I Am Waiting" is an 8 minute song about someone who eventually escapes capture from some serial killer. This is another truely amazing song and it highlights another great aspect to this album: how melodic the singing of Will Sheff has become. On this album, he creates some wonderful melodies with his vocals, more often than not over powering the instruments, which is a brilliant task. "Song Of Our So-Called Friend" is a song about rejection. It's another great song with great lyrics but I really feel this song could have been even better with a damn mandolin! "Get Big", "A Stone", "A Glow" and "A King And A Queen" are more examples of Sheff's vocals creating better melodies then the band's instruments, which are putting a really great show themselves. "The Latest Thoughs" & "Black" are the more upbeat, louder tracks of the album. And finally: "In A Radio Song" is a slower paced, melodic song filled with various experimental noises throughout.

Overall, this is perfect, and by far Okkervil River's best release. It is one of the best releases, period, this year. I hope with this release they get the giant recognition they now deserve. And I hope something incites them to bring back the mandolin! I won't be too surprised if this grows to become my favorite release of the year.

When I first listened to this CD I thought it was just okay but after a few more listens I have discovered the many intricacies this album has to offer. I now rate it as a SOLID 5. The refreshing part of this album is its straightforward musicality that always manages to hold my interest. The lyrics are clever and heartfelt, and the band has a way of playing with lyrical meter that is very creative (It's rememnicent of the style Edgar Alan Poe, see "A King and a Queen" and "Song of Our So-Called Friend"). I highly recommend this album; it has the perfect balance of novelty and accessibility.

I'm not good at writing reviews, but if you like music that simply cuts right through your chest and sits there and gives you an achey feeling, there's little better than Okkervil River (this goes for each of their releases, as far as I'm concerned).

I'm writing just prior to the release of this album's follow-up, which I picked up at a show on their current tour and is also wonderful.

Okkervil River has clearly mastered music in this, thier most recent release. The music laid down on the tracks of Black Sheep Boy come off as smoothly as such emotion laden tracks possibly can. They come off like the work of a natural though any follower of Okkervil's career would know this is not exactly the case. It took the desire to let go from the normally less risky songs of earlier albums to create the best tracks on this album. When first heard it seems as if each track is as good as the next but after a couple months of religious listening you can see all the strengths and weaknesses of each track. "For Real" as you have undoubtably heard is probably the best track with its surges of raw power that seems to come at entirely random moments. The start of the album and title track feels entirely appropriate given the whole album as if the album was truly written and produced around that one, breathtaking Tim Hardin cover. Many reviewer say thier cover hardly does it justice which I find in this case is just an excuse to show off respect for someone who had talent forty years ago. As the album progresses you understand the power of Will Sheff's vocals extends far beyond those of Connor Oberst. I can safely say that this album reaches up with the greatest albums of all time and I would reccommend picking up Sleep and Wake Up Songs EP to see the kind of masterful songwriting that Okkervil River is capable of.

Out of Austin comes the little-known band Okkervil River, playing some of the most imaginative, beautiful, and heartfelt songs I've ever heard. Okkervil River goes a bit rock and pop with songs like "Black" and "All the Latest Toughs"; they absolutely blister with the raw and wonderfully coarse "For Real"; quiet down with the delicate and sublime "A Stone". But the crowning glory on this album is "So Come Back, I Am Waiting": a desperate, clawing, nearly nine-minute epic crescendo, filled with wild emotion, great alliteration, and wonderfully descriptive imagery. The entire album is loosely woven around the theme of the black sheep boy-- but it's not a story, more of a feeling, with repeating elements and imagery that flicker in and out. Between the varied instruments, Will Sheff's emotive voice and his wonderful use of language, this is my favorite album, period.