Okkervil River
Down The River Of Golden Dreams

"Okkerbel castle, marcondiro ndiro ndello"...

Every now and then it's good to have some confirmation: black on white, Okkervil River is a great band. But they haven't always been: this album is a snapshot of a process in progress. Don't look for the great album here, their masterpiece is another one: that shadowy "Black Sheep Boy" from a few years later.

This is the review of the album immediately before (excluding EPs) released in 2003 and it brings to the fore a band of good stature, without that extra gear to make it stand out, but with all the potential to emerge. In short, this album merits proving that a band can evolve for the better without changing a bit, finding the right groove and the songs, talent permitting.
It leaves a bit of a bitter taste because the album opens with an "It Ends With A Fall" of poignant beauty (with a spine-tingling bridge) only to drag on in an interesting indie folk, often intense, sometimes whiny, but, in my humble opinion, without that strike that would secure it a spot in the family crypt.

There is a strong urgency to communicate in every piece, to let out what is inside, which tends to engulf all elements. And so here it is with crooked, dirty, often off-key, stubborn, hysterical singing (see "The War Criminal Rises And Speaks") accompanied by the ever-prominent acoustic guitar, while in the background rich melodies made of strings, horns, organs, mellotron, wurlitzer unfold, in short, the indie arsenal of duty, often with soulful undertones. On the table is the entire inner world of frontman Will Sheff, with his often problematic relationships with the opposite sex, his disillusionments, his dreams which manage to find many words to emerge, in a stream of consciousness spread over eleven tracks for 46 minutes of listening.

So is the album recommended? Only to the band's fans.