9. Okkervil River "Black Sheep Boy"
Jesus what to say about Black Sheep Boy. First off Will Sheff is an incredible lyricist and one of the greatest songwriters of the past decade. Verses like "You're all that I need / Though I know that it never can be / I'd be pleased to post your decrees / To fall at your knees / To name all your streets / And to sit down and weep when you're carried back through them / And set down to sleep / And to lie by your side for sublime centuries / Until we crumble to dust when we're crushed by a single sunbeam." could be the most romantic expression of love since being hit by a double-decker bus and a ten ton truck.
Will Sheff is no Jeff Buckley and if he was this album wouldn't work. Pushing himself beyond the limits of his voice he screams, spits and raves about stones, rape, child abducting, loss, monsters, in a slightly hysterical manner and all this is centered around this one figure; the Black Sheep Boy. They follow this child from lamb to ram in a first person narrative that is hauntingly believable. As will Sheff spits this out hes backed by an ever-growing band it seems, playing music rooted in folk/country that can go from anywhere to slow and melodic to fast paced and energetic. Driven by keyboards, acoustic guitars and bass the album takes a new turn with each track. From the slow folk Tim Hardin cover in the beginning to the climax of the album (and my favorite track) So Come Back, I Am Waiting with eerie strings and beautiful horns all the way to the closer, A Glow.
Black Sheep Boy blew me away when I heard it, it was literate, intense and Will Sheff was a punch in the face kick in the crotch vocalist who sang with such conviction I wondered why he hadn't been arrested for doing such awful things or why he wasn't sitting in an asylum somewhere raving to padded walls. Black Sheep Boy is a story, as haunting as it is beautiful.
Favorite Songs: For Real, So Come Back I Am Waiting, Black, A Stone, Song For Our So-Called Friend, Black Sheep Boy, A King and a Queen
MySpace.com - Okkervil River - Austin, TEXAS - Folk / Indie / Rock - www.myspace.com/okkervilriver