Okkervil River - Down The River Of Golden Dreams (2003)

More than anything, I wish I could be that guy that constantly knows and writes about every new "cool" band in a cynical "I'm-far-too-good-to-listen-to-this-album-let-alone-write-about-it-because-I-could-come-up-with-much-better-music-if-only-I-had-some-musical-talent-and-not-so-big-a-chip-on-my-shoulder-about-what-the-other-kids-said-to-me-at-school-that-made-me-stay-in-my-bedroom-for-the-better-part-of-my-life-with-headphones-on-listening-to-indie-rock-developing-my-fuck-you-I-listen-to-better-music-than-you" attitude, however, I'm not - depending on who you ask. As you read further posts on this blog, you will discover that I have a special affection for Okkervil River. There are album, Black Sheep Boy, knocked my socks off earlier this year, and I was full of rapture when I discovered that it was not their first album. I must admit, a strange feeling came over me as I picked up Down The River Of Golden Dreams. Oh, crap! "How could anything that came before Black Sheep Boy be as good?" I asked myself. "Surely, I am bound to be disappointed!" What a fool I was. Okkervil River, continue to knock me on my arse! This album is outstanding. By the end of songs such as It Ends With A Fall, The War Criminal Rises and Speaks, and Yellow, I find some myself in a state of strange awe, and have to bend down to pick my jaw up off the ground - such is their brilliance. The images that the songs conjure seem so real, that each one feels more like a short-film or a road-trip, perhaps, rather than just words and music. Without the presence of one weak track on this album, Down The River Of Golden Dreams is truly an exceptional album, and you would be doing yourself a grave injustice if you didn't track it down. So says I.

Check Out: www.myspace.com/okkervilriver