The Stand Ins

by Okkervil River

Overview

Okkervil River's 2007 almost-masterpiece Stage Names presented a vivid dissection of the "Silver Screen," both literally and metaphorically as filtered through the crowded, cerebral library of bandleader (and one-time film student) Will Sheff. 2008's Stand Ins doesn't just complement Stage Names (which was originally conceived as a two-disc package), it completes it. Opening with the first of three mini-instrumentals that sound like a mash-up of Bill Frisell's Nashville and Radiohead's Kid A, Stand Ins revisits many of the central themes (loneliness, failure, hero worship, and broken love) that bounced around the set of Stage Names. Songs like "Lost Coastlines" (a duet with former member and current Shearwater main man Jonathan Meiburg), with its Motown bassline, copious "la, la, la's," and "Old West" horn section, "Blue Tulip" with its slow-burn build and explosive finale, and "Singer Songwriter" with its lament that "This thing you once did might have dazzled the kids/but the kids once grown up are going to walk away" are all instant Okkervil classics, but it's the nearly six-minute closer that seals the deal. Like "John Allyn Smith Sails," Stage Names' ode to doomed poet John Berryman, "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979," a tribute to gay glam rock icon Jobriath, who was adored and then devoured by the press in the mid-'70s before dying of AIDS in 1983 a poor lounge act, presents its subject as tragic, misunderstood, and buried beneath the weight of his accomplishments. It's a subject that suits Sheff's writing style well, flowing out like an Americana version of something off of Scott Walker's self-penned fourth album. Stand Ins glows a little less bright than its predecessor, but it shines nonetheless. There may be nothing as immediately satisfying as "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe," "Plus Ones," or "Girl in Port," but it offers a more streamlined ride than Stage Names, wasting very little time trying to squeeze every last bit of scarlet pulp from the blood orange. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	09/09/2008
Label:	Jagjaguwar
UPC:	0656605212418
Rank:	36487

Tracks

1. Stand Ins, One
2. Lost Coastlines
3. Singer Songwriter
4. Starry Stairs
5. Blue Tulip
6. Stand Ins, Two
7. Pop Lie
8. On Tour With Zykos
9. Calling and Not Calling My Ex
10. Stand Ins, Three
11. Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed On the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Okkervil River   Primary Artist
Scott Jackson   Violin
Caitlin Bailey   Cello
Charles Bissell   Guitar (Electric)
Francesca Smith   French Horn
Will Thothong   Viola
Brian Beattie   Mellotron,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar (Electric)
Travis Nelsen   Drums,Claves,Vocals,Maracas,Clavinet,Tambourine,Sleigh Bells
Jonathan Meiburg   Banjo,Piano,Vocals,Wurlitzer
Katie Nott   Viola
Kathleen Pittman   Violin
Patrick Pestorius   Bass,Vocals,Melodica
Will Sheff   Casio,Vocals,Keyboards,Guitar (Rhythm),Guitar (Acoustic),Guitar (Electric)
Brian Cassidy   Vocals,Mandolin,Pedal Steel,Guitar (Electric)
Tammy Vo   Violin
Zachary Thomas   Mandolin
Scott Brackett   Cornet,Vocals,Mellotron,Percussion,Synthesizer,Organ (Hammond)
David Lobel   Sax (Alto),Sax (Baritone)
Justin Sherburn   Piano,Vocals,Carillon,Mellotron
Mike Hoffer   Trumpet,Trombone
Sarah Pizzichemi   Violin
Travis Nelson   Drums,Claves,Vocals,Maracas,Tambourine,Sleigh Bells

Technical Credits

Paul Mahern   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Okkervil River   Producer,Audio Production
Brian Beattie   Engineer,Producer,Audio Production
Roger Seibel   Mastering
Stuart Sullivan   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Will Sheff   Composer,Photography
Brian Cassidy   Arranger,String Arrangements
Brad Bell   Engineer,Audio Engineer
Scott Brackett   Editing,Engineer,Audio Engineer
Felix Beattie   Audio Engineer
William Schaff   Artwork
Daniel Murphy   Layout Design