 |
Humor me as I get in at least one good metaphor before the real “criticism” kicks in: the Okkervil River “leftover album” concept is a lot like Thanksgiving Dinner. After feasting on any number of delicious Pilgrim-themed foodstuffs, the average American spends a good week and a half eating cold turkey sandwiches every day for lunch because, no, even a solid party of 10 couldn’t finish off that forty-pound turkey. This is colloquially known (at least in my family) as the “leftover principle”; essentially, a tasty turkey yields a tasty week of lunch meat, same as a brilliant album yields equally brilliant leftovers, even they aren’t quite as good as when they were hot out of the oven. To put it even more bluntly, if you liked The Stage Names, you’ll probably like The Stand Ins.
All clumsy metaphors aside, however, there are essentially two ways to categorize this new release; the album can be listened to either strictly as leftovers and alternates from The Stage Names, or as an album entirely of its own. As a group of songs that either didn’t make the cut or didn’t fit the tracking of the group’s album-proper, The Stand Ins functions as something of a montage of deleted scenes, comical and witty as ever, but all within the context of the original album. Most songs have strong thematically ties to The Stage Names: “Singer Songwriter” plods through familiarly ironic commentary on the cultural role of a songwriter and the astoundingly comical “Pop Lie” practically serves as inspiration for “Plus Ones,” centering on the story of a pop star whose fans realize that the content of his pop songs isn’t exactly the reflection of reality they had hoped it was. It goes without saying that whatever smart lyrics contained in these songs are set to the perfect melody and generally the same instrumentation and new bright sound the band pioneered on The Stage Names.
When considering this release in conjunction with its big brother though, it’s hard to not realize why some of these songs were left off last year’s album. Granted, as excellent as The Stage Names was, the bar to be placed on the album must have been set quite high, but some songs on the new release still have obvious flaws that most likely prohibited their inclusion on The Stage Names. “On Tour With Zykos” (whose name sounds more EP B-side appropriate) doesn’t hit with the same poignant sting as Sheff’s usual lyrics, and while the instrumentation is still commendable, there are times on the album where the band can’t mesh the music and lyrics as perfectly as on The Stage Names. On a whole though, generally these flaws serve more to credit the high standards of The Stage Names than they do to discredit this current release.
There is, however, another way to approach the album without respect to The Stage Names. (If for the past 5 years or so you were hibernating under some rock in Wyoming and this is your first Okkervil River album, this approach is especially applicable). On it’s own, the album still suffers from the same aforementioned flaws, but without the critical shadow of The Stage Names cast over it, The Stand Ins has its own set of admirable qualities. Excellent tracking, including instrumental interludes placed throughout, give the album an excellent flow, providing for an interesting cover-to-cover listen. “Singer Songwriter” and “Pop Lie” still stand out as the album’s high-energy rockers, but calmer songs like “Starry Stairs” take a more prominent role without the help of extremely obvious thematic ties to The Stage Names. Sheff’s usual whit flares up as strongly as on other Okkervil albums: “If you don’t love me, I’m sorry,” he sarcastically confesses in “Starry Stairs.” And later, “They’re waiting to hate you, so give them an excuse.” Even Jonathan Meiburg pops up in “Lost Coastlines” for what may very well be his last Okkervil River appearance.
Despite the album’s merits though, it is still no substitute for The Stage Names, and though it’s a good listen on its own, The Stand Ins isn’t going to make your jaw drop as low as its predecessor. All that being said, it’s still important to note that even Okkervil River’s leftovers can stand up to most bands’ real albums. The title (with a little bit of Sheff’s irony) says it all: The Stand Ins can “stand in” for The Stage Names, but it’s still not the real thing.
Mp3 from The Stand Ins:
Lost Coastlines
Websites:
www.okkervilriver.com
Myspace
