174. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (2005)

Okkervil River's breakout record is so good that it probably renders the rest of their output irrelevant; The Stage Names was alright, but why listen to it when you've got this? This is one of the best fusions of folk and rock music I've heard this decade, and it's all the more powerful for the fact that it sneaks up on you slowly. The melodies are subtle and sophisticated, and the lyrics are peerless. There's a line between self-pity that is affecting and self-pity that is annoying, and this album straddles it like a master. "A Stone" is probably the single most impressive unrequited-love song written by anybody this decade--the lyrics are based upon a medieval conceit, yes, but the fantastical imagery gives the song power and does not trivialize it. If this thing had a fault it's that it's a bit samey and there are probably one or two too many slow folky pieces for my taste (the album could stand to be about ten minutes shorter) but overall this is an excellently written, produced and performed piece of work. The combination of folk and throat-shredding vocals shouldn't work, but it does. All the more disappointing that afterward, frontman Will Sheff seemed perfectly content to crank out folk-pop in the mold of Andrew Bird and the Decemberists rather than pursue the dark, violent and disturbing vision that led to this record. "So Come Back, I Am Waiting" in particular is heartrending, an eight-minute dirge built around somewhat horrifying lyrics of the utmost self-debasement. This kind of why-doesn't-she-love-me stuff is a minefield, and I am in awe of how Sheff manages to avoid every cliche of the genre. A major album.

MY RATING: 9.0

Okkervil River - "So Come Back, I Am Waiting"