The Stage Names

Okkervil River

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 7, 2007)
• Original Release Date: August 7, 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Jagjaguwar
• ASIN: B000SINSUS
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,006 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe

2. Unless It Kicks

3. Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene, A

4. Savannah Smiles

5. Plus Ones

6. Girl In Port, A

7. You Can't Hold The Hand Of A Rock And Roll Man

8. Title Track

9. John Allyn Smith Sails

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

On their debut album, Don’t Fall in Love with Everyone You See, Okkervil River invoked Otis Redding's "I’ve Got Dreams to Remember" in a late-album sweep of drama. Here they take the closer, "John Allyn Smith Sails," and spin languidly into verses from "Sloop John B," with tattered, ragged horns invoking Neutral Milk Hotel. Singer Will Sheff re-asserts his primacy as the best mid-range, lyric-wobbling howler as he pleads, "I feel so broke up, I wanna go home." But you don't have to wait until the ninth track to get the point: Okkervil River has grown yet again, weaving mandolin twang with pump organ wheeze as they name-check the Byrds, "99 Luftbaloons," and Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," all in the first two minutes of "Plus Ones," and then embracing sad-sack heartbreak amidst pedal steel on "A Girl in Port," a mere four tracks after the distortion-laden guitar riffage of "Unless It's Kicks." Hyper-literate, musically accomplished, and keenly aware of dramatic sweep, Okkervil River continues fulfilling the promise inherent not only in each of their prior albums but also in the enthused throes of passion marking Okkervil's colleagues, Arcade Fire and Decemberists and Bright Eyes. A brilliant work, The Stage Names. --Andrew Bartlett

Product Description

This record dynamites the moss-covered castle walls of 2005's "Black Sheep Boy" to let in the glaring sun. Riddled with characters real and fake, with the relics of high culture and the crumpled up trash of low culture, "The Stage Names" is a cinemascopic take on the meaning of entertainment in the modern world. Reverberant with echoes of Motown snap and girl group pop, redolent with ripe whiffs of dirty rock 'n' roll, shining with the shimmy of Bo Diddley, with the shimmer of the Velvets, with the swagger of the Faces, and with a glittery sprinkling of cheap perfume to disguise the stink, "The Stage Names" is a relentlessly paced and ruthlessly thrilling journey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Favorite, August 22, 2007

By	Yoshe "Holy Diver" (Placitas, New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This is the first album I've had the pleasure of listeneing to by Okkervil River and i have to say it makes everything else I have been listening to sound like crap. My only problem is how short it is. I will soon be buying all of their other cd's and you should to.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Let fall your soft and swaying skirt and give in to Okkervil River, October 2, 2007

By	Paul D. Sandor (CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I would like to thank the customer reviewers of Amazon and the pros over at Metacritic. Without them, I would have never discovered my new favorite band: Okkervil River. If you've ever experienced the thrill of loving a brilliant band that no one has ever heard of (Neutral Milk Hotel, The Decembrists etc.) then you'll feel it again with Will Sheff (singer,writer) and the boys. The album begins with three killer tunes, slows in good way thru its soft creamy center and finishes the listener off with three Knock-out songs at the end (which comes far too soon). Poignant lines like, "Oh, but wise men know when it's time to go, and I should too. And so I fly into the brightest sun of this frozen town" abound. Sheff is so good, I could've picked dozens of lines just as moving. O.R's music is unpredictable and original. They resemble everyone from The Kinks To Magnetic fields (via Wilco, yes Wilco!) but somehow sound fresh and new. If you want music that makes you think, feel and connect with this crazy world in an artful way, then make The Stage Names your next purchase. Absolutely essential for Indie Rock fans...

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars absolutely amazing, August 7, 2007

By	Sean Coleman (D.C. area) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This album is incredible like all of their other albums, maybe the best. Check out Unless It's Kicks and A Girl In Port. Will Sheff spins complex and beautiful stories better than just about anyone.