So what does everybody think of the "second half" of Okkervil's meditation on celebrity and art?

I think it's brilliant! Not only are the songs good fun but I think Sheff has continued to grow as a songwriter and lyricist. I'd say it's at least on par with Stage Names, even if there isn't a singular song as good as "Plus Ones."

Can't wait to hear it, and whatnot.

Which is of course my typical contribution to most all of these conversations. I'll report back in a few months and post some comments to resurrect this thread for a day and then it will drift back down the list again.

I seriously wish Okkervil had just released it as a double album to begin with. Their albums are all amazing, but I always come away feeling like they are purposefully holding themselves back from giving us the complete picture. They are definitely an album band and not just a sing track band, and their sound is epic to begin with. They should just accept the challenge and go all out.

Mediocre and boring. I like Okkervil River btw.

havent heard this album but finally somebody who agrees with me on the brilliance of plus ones.

I'm listening through it for the second time now. It's not as good or as deep as The Stage Names (which I loved). It's still a good album though and I'm sure I'll be listening to it many more times over the year.

quote:

Originally posted by just indie:
havent heard this album but finally somebody who agrees with me on the brilliance of plus ones.

Plus one to the list of those who think "The Plus Ones" was a brilliant song.

Haven't heard the album yet, but I'm looking forward to it. The Stage Names was my #2 last year, so even if this one is not as good as The Stage Names it still can be pretty darn good.

I'll wait to comment on the new album in September with the rest of us that aren't into the illegal downloading thing.

Well, as some folks around here know, I wasn't too amazed with Stage Names (though I did say that a couple of songs were genius, the album as a whole didn't appeal to me until later on). It was just crowded out by all the amazing releases in 07, I guess. This year, a new album by Okk River stands above and beyond most of the rest of the releases.

Not quite as immediate as the last two, but very very good.

My experience with The Stage Names was almost identical to Chamberk's. I'm only now starting to appreciate it as an album (rather than just listening to "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Savannah Smiles," and "Plus Ones"). The Stand-Ins has really helped me get into it more - I agree with Shadrach, it should have been a double album to start with.

Favorite song so far is "Lost Coastlines" but it's all good.

Ya I really like it a lot, especially the first four or so songs on the album. I really miss Okkervil's forays into country twang, so I enjoy the little guitar riff on "Singer Songwriter". The end of the album is a little more rock oriented, especially "Pop Lie" which is a great rock track. Okkervil continues to impress me with every release, it's just a shame the Meiburg left the band and won't be singing live duets with Sheff in concert to "Lost Coastlines".

The Stage Names was top 5 for me last year, but looks like I'm in the minority here - I'm not really feeling this much at all at the moment. First two songs are decent, but nothing after that is hooking me at all really. Also, Sheff's voice has never bothered me before, but at times here he seems more desperate than ever before, and I'm like... eh. I dunno if this is just because I don't really like the songs at the moment. Ohwell, I'll give it a break and come back to it later, hopefully it'll grow on me.

I'm really excited about The Stand Ins I'm hoping they will do a pre-order deal like last time. I enjoyed the acoustic bonus disk that came with Stage Names almost as much as I enjoyed the album itself. Let me know if anyone hears something about a preorder bonus.

Also, I was just on the official Okkervil River site, and in their merchandis section they are selling Black Sheep Boy. But the tracklist is different from everything else I've seen. It's only 9 tracks, because it's missing the first and last songs ("Black Sheep Boy" and "A Glow"). It also refers to "So Come Back I'm Waiting" as "So Come Back I'm Waiting (Black Sheep Boy III)" which I've never seen before. Is this a newer version, or an older version? I would be sad if they regretted the length of the album and cut off two really good songs because of it.

The Stand Ins is a nice album. To me "Starry Stairs" and "On Tour with Zykos" are phenomenal and as good as anything they've done. I would have loved to have seen them included on Stage Names. Strangly they're slower songs. The more upbeat tracks definitely come across as B-Sides or leftover tracks. They're still good tunes but nothing really special. "Lost Coastlines" had potential, but they drag out the "La La La's" for a good 2 minutes too long on the end.

the first 3 minutes of lost coastline sounds like the strokes

THat, or any other song that's ever used the Lust for Life beat.

yup, that beat and the ronnettes drum beat makes up like 75% of music lol. i havent listened to the whole thing yet, but so far its like late top 10 for me, and only because this year has been week for music.

quote:

Originally posted by The National Spoon of Montreal:
yup, that beat and the ronnettes drum beat makes up like 75% of music lol.

I thought its more "You Can't Hurry Love" than Ronettes to me.

i wasnt talking about okkervil river. just music in general.

quote:

Originally posted by The National Spoon of Montreal:
i wasnt talking about okkervil river. just music in general.

Sorry, you're right, just re-read your post. And you're right both of those show up everywhere these days.

quote:

Originally posted by The National Spoon of Montreal:
...but so far its like late top 10 for me, and only because this year has been week for music.

Once you realize that the blame isn't to be put on 'music in general' but yourself for not looking for lesser known bands you might like, you'll stop saying that there is something wrong with the releases that have come out this year.