After feeling a bit off on Sunday I awoke Monday
to a raging cold and it has been hitting with a vengeance ever since. Argh. I’m
trying to blink my way through my watery right eye long enough to get this
review in the books.
Fun fact – this is my second straight review
of an album released in 2013 and the last time I reviewed this next artist was
also 2013. And yes, it was all totally random – thanks for asking.
Disc 1225 is… The Silver Gymnasium
Artist:
Okkervil River
Year of Release: 2013
What’s up with the
Cover?
Getting work as a giant-bird man must not be easy, but this fellow has found a
career in moving houses. He’s brought along his ghetto blaster for music, which
is pretty common in that profession and his dead frog, which is less so.
How I Came To Know
It: I
am a pretty devoted Okkervil River fan, and tend to just buy their new albums
as they come out. That’s what happened here.
How It Stacks Up: I have nine Okkervil River albums which to
this point is all of them. “The Silver Gymnasium” is solid, but only can manage
6th best.
Ratings: 3 stars
“The Silver Gymnasium” is a lush combination of narrative tales and
confessionals; the latest brain-child of lead singer and songwriter Will Sheff who
has blended alternative rock, Goth and Americana into something all its own.
Early albums in the band’s discography are a lot more stripped down and
folky, but “The Silver Gymnasium” follows the more ambient rock stylings of the
band’s 2011 release “I Am Very Far” but with a brighter more up-tempo sound.
Much like my last review (Typhoon’s “White Lighter”) there is a lot going
on here. The band has been through many iterations – this one has nine members,
plus another seven sessionals adding such instruments as the glass harmonica,
handclaps and (because the trumpet, trombone and flugelhorn weren’t enough) a saxophone. Overall, Sheff does a solid job of juggling all these musical options and I never felt like it was too
lush, although it definitely approached that line in places.
In terms of standouts, you generally don’t think “radio single” when you listen
to Okkervil River. Sheff adamantly refuses to conform to ear-pleasing melodies,
favouring music to match the mix of melancholy and reverie that Sheff infuses
into his lyrics. The closest he comes is “On
a Balcony” which benefits from a soaring chorus and some well-placed horn
flourishes. Sure, the protagonist is high on pills, fine wine and “something-and-soda”
but it is a song that captures the crazy triumph of excess, even while recognizing
the falsity of it all.
Over the years I’ve learned to trust Sheila’s ear for music and when she
goes out of her way to praise a song I go out of my way to listen carefully. On
“The Silver Gymnasium” that song is “Down
Down the Deep River” and once again I was not disappointed. Like “On a Balcony” it has a triumphant sound
riding on some well-placed horn. It has a mid-eighties groove and a youthful nostalgia
that made me feel like I was back in high school. Then – just when I thought it
couldn’t get better – the aforementioned handclaps make an appearance. Handclaps
make every song better.
I didn’t particularly like the meandering and unfocused “Lido Pier Suicide Car” or how that
phrase trips awkwardly off of Sheff’s tongue. “Walking with Frankie” tries to work a rockabilly beat into the
album and it is a poor fit for the record, but these are exceptions. For the
most part the record is smart and while it isn’t restrained, it has the good
sense to stretch in the right places.
Lyrically, these songs are like a lush piece of narrative short-fiction
and it takes a lot of listening and attention to follow along, but it is
usually worth the effort.
The record ends with “Black Nemo,”
a song that starts with a gently played guitar and piano piece that feels like a
cool breeze after a late summer squall. The whole album is an exploration of
coming-of-age experiences, and “Black
Nemo” feels like a summary of the journey, rich and accepting and maybe a
little regretful as each year has those memories farther and farther away. Or
as Sheff sings it:
“In the fizzed-out snow of a cathode
screen
I saw a broken ghost in an old
soap scene.
I let his dead and dreamy eyes
follow my eyes.
“And I had a vision of everything
hidden but always around me.
It fought me. It found me while
going away, floating away on the tide.
Shooting through time with my
eyes getting glassy and lined,
While I watch seasons rocketing
past me.
They’re going away – a little
more every day, all the time.”
The song pulls in both imagery and musical elements from the ten that
came before it, making you feel like you’re at the end of a dreamy vacation to a
youthful time when things were slower, and everything seemed to mean a little
more. And in a way, you are. Way to end on a blue note, Mr. Sheff.
Best tracks: On a Balcony, Down Down the Deep River, Where the
Spirit Left Us, Black Nemo
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