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Okkervil River
The Stage Names

Released in 2007

9.1/10

Styles
Folk-rock

Song Highlights
Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
Unless it's Kicks
A Girl in Port

In 2005, Okkervil River, the folk-tinged rock outfit led by Will Scheff, released Black Sheep Boy, the album which pushed them from being an underground cult hit to a major hit in the indie scene. Charged with passionate emotion and loaded with catchy hooks, the album proved to be one of my favourites from that year, however I was delighted to find that this year's The Stage Names has surpassed it in virtually every aspect.

Scheff's emotionally charged brand of songwriting remains very firmly intact on The Stage Names, and the band's instrumentation sounds notably more full-bodied than on their previous work, giving the album's songs - particularly the upbeat numbers - a level of undeniable power and exhuberance. Okkervil River deserve plenty of kudos for being such clever musicians, as they structure their songs in just the right way to make them as catchy, gripping and memorable as they possibly can. The albums opening trio, "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe", "Unless it's Kicks" and "A Hand to Take Hold of the Scene", all feature such upbeat, rollicking instrumentation that they're extremely effective in hooking the listener in right from the start. Through their wonderful feeling of surging, unrelenting momentum, combined with their delightfully loose and exhuberant style, all three of these tracks absolutely fly past, such that track four seems to arrive almost unusually soon. On the other end of the spectrum, some of the album's most memorable slower numbers, such as "John Allan Smith Sails" and the gorgeous "A Girl in Port", feature gradually building instrumentation leading into a somewhat more full-sounding second half, giving the songs an excellent sense of swelling and building into something truly grand.

However, despite all this fantastic instrumentation, it's hard to deny that The Stage Names' crowning glory just has to be Will Scheff's impeccable songwriting and tremendously powerful delivery. Most of the album's upbeat numbers call for some really full-voiced singing, and Scheff goes so much further than just "belting it out" - the man absolutely wails, throwing his vocals out with a delivery that's slightly off-kilter and almost feverish with passion, imbuing his music with an edginess that suggests it may be in real danger of flying off the rails alltogether. He pulls out all the stops at exactly the right times, and the result is an album characterised by a very real sense of drama and near-overwhelming urgency.

With an extremely high level of consistent quality, and a total absense of filler, the album is impressively heavy on highlight tracks. The opening trifecta are an obvious choice, for reasons which have already been given, "A Girl in Port" deserves additional mention for its exquisitely delicate grace and compelling subject matter (it's a fictional rockstar's regretful ode to the women he's slept with and promtly forgotten while on tour), while the title track opens as a notably mellow affair, featuring somber, gentle vocals and backed by graceful strings, only to be intermittently fractured by crashing bursts of piano, percussion and electric guitar.

Perhaps the greatest complement I can pay to The Stage Names, however, is this: this album feels genuinely timeless. Even if this isn't my favourite record of the year (and as of right now, it isn't), I have a very strong feeling it's going to be one that will most definitely stand the test of time. Its songwriting is so perfect, its instrumentation and vocal delivery so intensely gripping and emotional, and its scope so incredibly epic (it's hard to believe there's only 9 tracks), that I have no doubt it'll still be touching listeners in the years to come. It's a bit of a gamble to say so - but I expect this album is going to age very well indeed, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it making a strong showing when all the "Best of the Decade" lists start showing up in three years' time. Consider it essential listening - this is a recording you're going to treasure.