Okkervil River “Overboard & Down” (Low Transit Industries)
Okkervil River’s 2005 album Black Sheep Boy was #15 on my Top 30 of 2005. The band writes dark, yet lovely indie/folk rock. The band’s 2006 Australian Import EP, Overboard & Down, contains three original songs. The EP’s opening track, “The President’s Dead” is perhaps one of the band’s finest pieces. It’s an imaginary tale of rememebering what was going on when a president happened to be assasinated. It’s incredibly catchy despite the darkness of the song’s subject. “The Room I’m Hiding In” is much more subtle in its delivery but nontheless a beautifully somber track. “Love To A Monster” continues the same mood but with longer lasting results. The EP also features a cover of Big Star’s “O, Dana” (a line from which is the source of the EP’s title), as well as a live recording of “Westfall” (taken from the band’s first album Don’t Fall in Love with Everyone You See). The Big Star cover is fantastic and Okkervil River truly make it their own. The live track, “Westfall” is a powerful statement of the greatness of the band and adds even more to this already wonderful EP. Okkervil River lead man Will Sheff is a wildly unique and imaginitive songwriter who is surely underrated. Overboard & Down is simply more proof of that.
RIYL: Shearwater, Bright Eyes, Magnolia Electric Co.
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I’m a fan! Thanks for the good wishes, I do feel much better.