Okkervil River 'The Stand Ins'

Okkervil River return with 'The Stand Ins' which is an extension of last year's thrilling 'The Stage Names'. They have form for this kind of stuff, following up 'Black Sheep Boy' with the accurately named 'Black Sheep Boy Appendix' and releasing a few mini albums over the years. The story behind this one is that 'TSN' was originally intended to be a double album and this is the stuff that got left off when it wasn't....but also 'The Stand Ins' focuses mainly on music and musicians as a theme, whereas it's predecessor was mainly interested in films and actors.

The band have certainly embarked on a change of direction in recent years. The country noir of their first three albums is now largely gone and this new record continues the in-your-face indie rock of recent years, musically this is one of their more interesting releases though. Opener 'Lost Coastlines' starts quietly and acoustically before building into an expansive sound with a motown feel and a 'la la la' finish. 'Singer Songwriter' and 'Pop Lie', both condemnations of knowing rock singers writing cynical sing-along choruses that don't mean anything, enjoy rollicking guitar licks.

Elsewhere 'Calling and not calling my ex' relates a tale of an ex-girlfriend appearing on the cover of a magazine, which reminds me a little of J Geils Band's 'Centerfold', a favourite of mine when I was a child! This is nicely done. 'Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed...' is slow burning and bittersweet. 

Its not a perfect record by any means. 'Starry Stairs' is an inferior update on 'Savannah Smiles' and 'Blue Tulip' is forgettable, save the stunning guitar break at the end. The instrumental interludes meanwhile are interesting but, y'know, not that interesting and sound like filler. Despite the fact that the themes are different, although similar', a mix of the best songs from here and 'The Stage Names' would have been quite some album. There is enough that is good to make this an essential buy for fans and anyone interested in some superb and very clever songwriting.

7.5

['The Stand Ins' is out now on import via Jagjaguwar. Out in the UK in October]