Tuesday's Recommended Release

As far as album sequels go we don't have too large a list to go compare Okkervil River's The Stand Ins to. This is the musical follow-up to last year's brilliant The Stage Names an album that was beautifully written by Will Sheff about the world of fame and celebrity and all it's potential pratfalls big and small. The Stand Ins continues along those lines with songs covering everything from the emptiness of a life spent standing on stage to the view of those performers from the cheap seats. It's an honest and revealing look at celebrity but it's also aided by Sheff's amazing ability to turn a phrase and his band's ability to back it all with sounds that fit.

Like The Stage Names, The Stand Ins is a full sounding album buoyed by its wide breadth of instruments and a remarkable penchant for those tools of the trade. And also like it's predecessor, The Stand Ins shows Will Sheff at the height of his song writing abilities, never afraid to let himself pour out onto the page and delivering poignant verse after poignant verse. This is a fantastic album whether it stands alone or is pair with The Stage Names, but when you play the two back-to-back you get the full picture of what Sheff had intended by all this.

Some would say that The Stand Ins serves more as a second act rather then a sequel, but terminology is a fickle beast so we'll continue to use the sequel tag that Okkervil River applied to it. No matter what it's called the album is another beautiful record from Okkervil River a band who has jumped into this world of indie music and given us a slew of fantastic records over the last few years. This one isn't their best, I'd reserve that label for their breakthrough album Black Sheep Boy, but it definitely showcases every strength they have developed in the time they've been around.

The Stand Ins is a rare beast as an album sequel, but it's music can be taken on it's own and that allows it to shine through as a fantastic record on it's own. If Okkervil River continue to write and record with such an undeniable ability as they have shown they will soon be regarded as one of the better bands around, if they aren't already. This is definitely a record that should be in your collection.
Okkervil River - "Lost Coastlines"
Okkervil River - "Calling And Not Calling My Ex"
Okkervil River - "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979"

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