Okkervil River in Austin
This band isn’t a river, or maybe. It’s definitely not a short story written by Tantyana Tolstaya, although they get their name from her work. This is a band from New Hampshire. It’s a band that decided to move to Austin, because there was supposed to be a great music scene happening there, in 1998. It turns out to be one of the best moves that anyone could have made, and their fans from around the world are grateful for the move. We might not know who they are if it hadn’t been for the happy marriage of weirdnesses. Between their own peculiar rhythms and the ones that naturally play out in the city of Austin, something good got brewed up.
They play all over the world, and have appearances on David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, among others, but it’s definitely worth the price of the ticket to see them in Austin. Hotels are excellent and available, and it’s easy to get around the city. Or at least it’s incredible fun. There’s no other place like it in the country, probably, being one of the most interesting and creative centers around. It has a certain charm that still attracts young people from all over, looking to make good work without the same pressures offered by the cities on the coasts. Okkervil River is an original band with an original sound.
It may be slightly unfair to single out Will Sheff, as the front man always gets all the attention. The truth is, these musicians are all extraordinarily phenomenal, and they have an unusual tightness that always looks like they just strung it together backstage. The same sense of things about to fall apart is absolutely in the lyrics, and this is where Sheff keeps haunting. He has an unusual poetic skill that may not translate to the page perfectly, but sung, it’s brilliant stuff. And to hear them play, one gets the sense of things falling apart right before they come brilliantly back together.
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