Okkervil River - "The Stage Names"

Okkervil River - Savannah Smiles (Jagjaguwar 2007)

Okkervil River - The Stage Names / Jagjaguwar

Well, it's nearly time for Austin's Okkervil River to drop what might be the most important album in the band's sizable career. After all, this is a group that perennially fought as the neglected underdog until 2005's Black Sheep Boy rolled around and suddenly everyone was jumping on them faster than a whore with four kids to feed.

What was it about that album that people loved so much and somehow didn't see in their three previous records (2000's Stars Too Small to Use, 2002's Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See, and 2003's Down the River of Golden Dreams)? That's a pretty hefty discography for so many people to supposedly not notice. But then it's like, oh right, Will Sheff is playing in the same ballpark as Win Butler.

Except Sheff is operating on another level from Win Butler. Okkervil River describe themselves as "folk-punk rock" on their website, and for a time they were good at that, but with The Stage Names I'm thinking less folk-punk and more alt-country this time around. Actually, what was Bright Eyes? There's a lot of that in here too.

Really though, listen to "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene." Somewhere a kid just caught a fever in the mirror listening to all those handclaps and happy-go-whiskey choruses, not that it has to mean that's such a bad thing. Sheff's vocals are less trembly, less erratic, and ultimately less annoying than any Conor Oberst vocals could ever be. They're also way more polished here than they've ever been before. In that respect, I guess he's not so far from Win Butler after all.

He's also ditched the female backing vocals that could be found in past releases. In some places, they would be a little helpful as added texture to a track as straightforwardly male-backed as "Plus Ones." But this is an internal debate of mine; the best part of The Stage Names is its quieter tracks. Their out-and-out rockers are enjoyable and opener "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe" is one of the best songs on the record. There is, however, a stretch of songs from "Savannah Smiles" to "A Girl in Port" that stands as one of the best mid-album runs this year. Each of these songs has an excellent dynamic, spot-on lyrics (which have not grown any lazier with this release, thankfully), and a penchant for distinctive instruments like bells and tasteful slide guitar. That's the Okkervil River that made its name so dramatically two years ago. Or was it nine? Point is, the group are at their best here when they're playing to quiet strengths rather than string- or horn-induced hysteria.

In short, Okkervil River have gone the way of The Arcade Fire rather than Lucero, but they've done it on a different, much more interesting scale. I wouldn't go so far as to say that The Stage Names is their Neon Bible because this isn't quite as boring or as tidy; the band may have recruited Spoon's Jim Eno for the recordings, but it looks like their long-time engineer and producer Brian Beattie has done more than his fair share to keep things honest.

Sheff intended to make this the band's "modern" record, and they've succeeded. This sounds like an updated version of the band we once knew, but now that it's done, why press any further forward? The Southern Gothic influences of previous releases are just as intriguing and Okkervil River are at their best when they're shaking their head and looking at the ground rather than shaking their head and looking skyward. The Stage Names is worth the price you pay, but where they go from mere may yet be the most intriguing development in the ever-growing history of this group. Alternately, it may yet be their most boring development. Stay tuned.