Okkervil River — The Stage Names

The problem with making an excellent concept record is that bands typically have no idea how to follow it up. Perhaps that's why Okkervil River seem a little listless after the success of Black Sheep Boy and its accompanying — not to mention even better — Appendix. The album starts out strong with a trio of tracks that present Okkervil's Will Sheff as a slightly more downbeat, but no less magnetic, version of Conor Oberst or Win Butler. He sings a bit beyond his capabilities on album opener "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe," then takes it down a notch for the LP's best song, "Unless It's Kicks," a song where the band do all the heavy lifting. By the middle, though, they go straight off the rails. No song stands out and the lack of variation kills both the momentum and goodwill that the beginning works so hard to create. The Stage Names could have been a contender, but instead it feels like any recent album by Jason Molina — frontloaded and not worth sticking with 'til the end.

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