Okkervil River - The Stand Ins

The Stand Ins follows on from last years The Stage Names as a continuation of the themes of fame, fortune and celebrity. The artwork from this latest album actually joins up with the artwork of The Stage Names to show one larger piece of art. Where The Stage Names concentrated on the stars of the shows, The Stand Ins spares a thought for the also-rans and those who fell by the wayside with a certain amount of pathos, including the suicide of a porn star (Starry Stairs) and the tragedy of a glam rock star dying of AIDS (Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On The Roof Of The Chelsea Hotel, 1979).

Singer Songwriter focuses on the life of a person whose whole family is involved in show business and shows the fallacies and fraudulent side of fame, whilst the grim and lonely On Tour With Zykos wallows in a brooding loss of hope. Pop Lie is a more upbeat song, with a tongue-in-cheek look at musicians and the pretence of songwriters thinking that they can change the world with their songs.

Throughout, Will Sheff and his Okkervil band mates, produce a dark and bitter perspective on the other side of stardom, for those who tried to make it and failed and for those who had it all and lost it. This is a superb album which will garner even larger crowds for this band.

4.5/5


NARC. is currently available in all good record shops, pubs, practice rooms etc. etc. View more information on NARC. magazine, including outlets, at their MySpace, and at their website.