Black Sheep Boy

The Stage Names On their debut album, Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, Okkervil River invoked Otis Redding's "I've Got Dreams to Remember" in a late-album sweep of drama. Here they take the closer, "John Allyn Smith Sails," and spin languidly into verses from "Sloop John B," with tatter...	Down the River of Golden Dreams	Boxer With Boxer, the National have reached four albums into their increasingly lauded career, never hurrying the tempo, never over-reaching in volume or instrumental density. Instead, the quintet's balanced on a pin, emotionally austere, if not utterly downhearted, finding brilliantly...	Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See With grackles in their hair and tragedies in their boots, Okkervil River have taken a shot at tradition and injected it with new passion and virility. Uniting the strains of moody chamber pop contemporaries like Tindersticks, Arab Strap and Bright Eyes with the ragged emotional v...	Vampire Weekend It would take a lot for Vampire Weekend's debut to rise above the stench of privileged hype that surrounds it. A bunch of kids who formed the band in their Columbia dorm room borrow wholesale from Afrobeat and angular '80s stuff, and they quickly become an online buzz band before...
Challengers Pay no attention to the reviews that imply the New Pornographers have "grown up" or "matured" or "drifted away" from the perfect-pop promise of their first three records. For if you throw darts at the songs on Challengers, an ambitious soundscape that had members of the all-star ...	Fleet Foxes It's now twenty years since grunge emerged from then culturally isolated Seattle and Fleet Foxes, the eponymous debut album from the city's latest heroes, demonstrates just how much American independent rock has mutated in that time. The five young members of Fleet Foxes make up ...	The Reminder Feist is the solo project of Canada's Leslie Feist, a prolific artist who has also played in one capacity or another with Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and half a dozen other bands. The Reminder, her third release, comes from the same well of quiet, appealing songwrit...	Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Something happened to Spoon between records five and six--they got big. It's not as if these unprepossessing Texans were unpopular before, but after Gimme Fiction, their music was everywhere. There was Britt Daniel, who has since moved to Oregon, singing karaoke on cult favorite ...	The Stand Ins The sequel to 2007's critically acclaimed "The Stage Names", which Pitchfork praised as "one of the year's best", is part two of a staggered double album, picking up where part one left off, but delving deeper into the story and theme of "The Stage Names".

Black Sheep Boy
There's only two songs I didn't like on this album. Okkervil River has produced an awesome album that I defiantly recommend.

How a boy became a man...
This is simply the most moving, beautiful story ever told via an album. Its the story of abuse, love, hope, friendship, regret, despair, happiness, and especially anger, which is most apparent in the song "Black", in which Will Sheff unleashes so much emotion through his vocals that one can't help but feel his complete and utter hatred. "Black Sheep Boy" is filled with absolute musical gems, including: For Real - A brilliant poppish type song that sends the album off to a great start, its highly infectious and a pretty emotional song via Sheff's vocals. 9.5/10 In A Radio Song - The very next song following For Real. This is a very somber, tranquil, relaxing song, mixed with beautiful music play and vocals, which is nice, becuase it gets you prepared for the next song. 9/10 Black - Following In A Radio Song, Black is... well its quite possibly the greatest song ever composed. By far the most emotional, heart-wrenching, beautiful song on the entire album. The story of his abused girlfriend, and how he tries to help her, while showing his true anger towards the girls father. A song about love and hatred, and Sheff lets us know that through his amazing, perhaps over the top vocals (in a good way though), which makes the song so incredible. I can only think of one other song with more emotion, and thats Korn's "Daddy". Absolutely astounding and the greatest song ever, describes this song pretty well. 10/10 (100/10 if I could) A Stone - Ha ha, oh yes, this song is something. This takes a chick flik and turns it into a five and a half-minute song. First there's hope, then love, then sorrow, and thats about it. Mixed with somber and freshly calmed vocals, A Stone is the greatest story every told in this short of span. I absolutely love it, I can't possibly see any other way of looking at it. Sheer brilliance. 10/10 The Latest Toughs - An upbeat, catchy song, that carries the album along quite well. A very refreshing change from the rest of the album, and I LOVE the background vocals in this song. Though the upbeat part of the song may seem confusing, because this is most certainly not a cheerful song. 8.5/10 So Come Back, I Am Waiting - How the boy became a man. Just listen to this song, thats all I can say. But you have to listen to the predecessing songs first, since they really lead up to this song. I like to think of this as the ending song of the album, although A Glow does continue it. This is really the final chapter in the album, about how this young man finally manages to see the inner light in life, and his love. He finally becomses a man, which Sheff cooes near the end of the song "So come back to your black sheep man". A fantastic, beautifully muically composed piece of art. Most bands can only dream of composing a song this incredible, both musically and lyrically and vocally. WoW! 10/10, duh. Album Overall: 10/10 This is the most well written album, lyrically it makes one think deeply and emotionally. This is whats missing in the music world today, incredible music mixed with unforgettable lyrics. So many songs nowadays are so straight forward and utterly disappointing, well not any of the songs on this album do that. How good is this album? Well its one of the 10 greatest albums ever, how about that? Any indie rock lover can certainly not miss out on this piece of art. I also recommend checking out Shearwater's (both Will Sheff and Jonathan Meiburg are in this band as well, though Jonathan is the lead singer, and the sound is more soothing and relaxed) "Palo Santo". This is the greatest album since Radiohead's OK Computer, and touches the heart in so many places. Well done Okkervil River, well done.

Broken But Beautiful Black Sheep Boy
Can an album be depressing yet uplifting at the same time? Thats how i feel everytime i listen to this album. It always seems to find itself into my rotation when depressed, yet when i hear the song For Real i cant help but jam along to the thundering guitar. If you pay attention to the lyrics they are some of the darkest stuff written in a while, but you can't help but sing along. I would compare this to a darker (not more emo) Bright Eyes. Will Sheff spills everything he has into every word he spews, and the thundering rhythm section melds perfectly with his cracked voice. Great vocals and Amazing arrangements. Key Tracks: For Real; So Come Back I'm Waiting; Black; Song of Our So-Called Friend; A Stone

Brilliant.
Out of Austin comes the little-known band Okkervil River, playing some of the most imaginative, beautiful, and heartfelt songs I've ever heard. Okkervil River goes a bit rock and pop with songs like "Black" and "All the Latest Toughs"; they absolutely blister with the raw and wonderfully coarse "For Real"; quiet down with the delicate and sublime "A Stone". But the crowning glory on this album is "So Come Back, I Am Waiting": a desperate, clawing, nearly nine-minute epic crescendo, filled with wild emotion, great alliteration, and wonderfully descriptive imagery. The entire album is loosely woven around the theme of the black sheep boy-- but it's not a story, more of a feeling, with repeating elements and imagery that flicker in and out. Between the varied instruments, Will Sheff's emotive voice and his wonderful use of language, this is my favorite album, period.

A finely sharpened dart
Take Andrew Bird, mix in a bit of Modest Mouse and sprinkle a little of Calexico's horn section in between, and enjoy the resulting "Black Sheep Boy". This is a really powerful album, because of many variables. The one that did it for me though, was the raw emotion of the singer, Will Sheff. This emotion is coupled to smart lyrics that reveal a raw maturity. Raw is a good word to describe "Black Sheep Boy", because in my opinion it describes perfectly the awkwardness, the pain and fury from growing up. Not just growing up, but growing from those really hurtful yet subtle cuts...parting ways with a loved one, a friend, and coming to terms with one's family. They're the stories of the black sheep among us losing their innocence, but learning to live. And this band does an excellent job of playing the rage, tenderness, and exhaustion. All tracks are impressive. Whether loud or tender, each is strong with a depth of instrumentals. I don't think the band took a song off in this record, however, slight angst fatigue set in beginning with "So comeback" for me. Repeated listening is essential but well worth it. A great record, perfect for long drives.