This Austin quintet follows 2007's The Stage Names with a second tour de force about the collateral damage of fame.
All of Sheff’s characters once again come to life on The Stand Ins. More stories are told from the first person than on The Stage Names, but the theme shines through.
The Stand Ins is assured, ambitious and occasionally transcendent in its appeal – a worthy expansion of its forerunner and standalone joy in itself.
The Stand Ins stands out on its own merits, a trove of dazzlingly wittty songcraft.
The ambitious The Stand-Ins picks up right where last year’s masterpiece The Stage Names left off and further cements lead singer and songwriter Will Sheff’s reputation for being able to bring the characters in his songs to life without the benefit of his beloved silver screen.
The Stand-Ins is far from being relegated as the bastard sister release. It’s well written, lyrically concise, and instrumentally sound. The only difference is that it’s without the charm of it’s brother.
The Stand Ins is a solid achievement cut from the same charming cloth, even if it doesn’t crisp in quite the same way The Stage Names did.
The Stand Ins, is packed with the same compound sentences, sprawling narratives, and precarious, barn-dance guitars that made its companion piece, 2007's The Stage Names, so weirdly gripping.
Though it stands up well enough on its own The Stand Ins does feel like a follow-up, rather than something completely new and fresh and forward looking, and it is not as instantly gripping as The Stage Names, it takes longer to wind your way into your mind.
Life was a crummy movie on Okkervil River's breakthrough album, The Stage Names. On The Stand Ins, it's a lousy rock show. As the interchangeable titles and puzzle-piece album covers imply, this new record is an extension of its predecessor, a further untangling of themes and ideas about music, art, celebrity, love, and the folly of it all. The Stand Ins doesn't quite match the gusto and brainy emotionalism of The Stage Names but it exceeds its bleakness. Pop songs lie, tortured singer-songwriters are wealthy narcissists, groupies have regrets, music scenes wither, nothing changes. Rock promises redemption but delivers only destruction, or at best, cultish relative obscurity. Okkervil River are the anti-Hold Steady. They should tour together.
If these two albums had been released as a unified double-disc album as was originally intended I would have been forced to put it solidly among last year’s best on the strength of its overall accomplishment. But it wasn’t. They were released as distinct (though interrelated) albums, and this one is better.
It's a straight line from Pet Sounds to Pulp's Different Class, and while Stand Ins and its predecessor share R&B riffs affected with a country twang, connecting this latest dip in the Okkervil to a '90s Pulp-y-ness is a refreshing move.
Stand Ins glows a little less bright than its predecessor, but it shines nonetheless.
Though Sheff’s lyrics can be too earnest sometimes, there’s no doubt he’s one of the most exciting songwriters of recent years, and The Stand Ins is another fine entry in the band’s discography.
The Stand Ins has its moments of enlightment, but, as a whole, it's a distant cousin to a far superior record.
Like its predecessor, The Stand Ins also continues to stretch the band's mopey sound.
I love this album so much,
It's hard for me to explain why other than that it's just great.
Like an excellent book.
Fav song - on tour with zykos
Operating almost more like a short film than an album, “The Stand Ins” combines the bombast and ambition of 2000s indie rock with the cleverness and quirk of 2000s indie folk, all in one catchy and instantly enjoyable package. Experts at forward momentum, Okkervil River are thrilling whether on rollicking stompers that kick off the album, or the proggier but focused chamber folk pieces that follow. All in all, a great album—and I’m told it’s not even their best, so ... read more
#5 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#5 | / | Paste |
#18 | / | Treble |
#19 | / | No Ripcord |
#19 | / | Spin |
#22 | / | Beats Per Minute |
#24 | / | Drowned in Sound |
#44 | / | musicOMH |
#48 | / | PopMatters |