The Stand Ins | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 9, 2008 | |||
Genre | Indie rock | |||
Length | 40:12 | |||
Label | Jagjaguwar | |||
Producer | Brian Beattie [2] | |||
Okkervil River chronology | ||||
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The Stand Ins is the fifth full-length studio album by American indie rock band Okkervil River, released on September 9, 2008. [3] The album is the second half of The Stage Names , a planned double album. The title comes from the term 'stand-in', a person who substitutes for the actor before filming for technical purposes. If the cover art for The Stage Names is placed above that of The Stand-Ins, a complete picture is formed. [3] The album charted at #42 with 11,000 copies sold, according to the Billboard 200. [4]
Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg and guitarist Charles Bissell of The Wrens contributed to the album. [3]
Conceived as a companion piece to The Stage Names , The Stand Ins continued the band's preoccupation with pop culture, celebrity suicide, and life as a musician. The track "Lost Coastlines", which features a duet with Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, deals with trying to keep the band together despite the band's constant touring. [5] "Starry Stairs" depicts the life and suicide of porn star Shannon Wilsey. [6] The final track on The Stand Ins, "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979," details the career and disillusionment of glam rock musician Bruce Wayne Campbell (better known as Jobriath). [6] [7]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 78/100 [8] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [9] |
Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [10] |
Entertainment Weekly | A [11] |
Pitchfork Media | 8.0/10 [12] |
PopMatters | [5] |
Robert Christgau | [13] |
Rolling Stone | [14] |
The Stand Ins has received positive reviews. The album currently has a score of 78 out of 100 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [15]
PopMatters' Joseph Carver praised the album's narrative, writing "Once again, a record made up of relatively unlikeable characters becomes a fixture in your psyche thanks to Will Sheff's ability to find the humanity in their stories." [5] Pitchfork Media also praised the album's lyrics, with reviewer Stephen Deusner calling Sheff "...one of the best lyric-writers going in indie rock." Deusner continued: "Song for song, he can jerk a tear with a carefully observed detail or turn of phrase... but it's the way those songs talk to one another that makes Okkeril River albums so durable and fascinating." [12]
In a less positive review, Melanie Haupt of The Austin Chronicle criticized the album for being unpolished and unfocused, writing "The Stand Ins doesn't really figure out what it wants to be until its second half." [16] In another mixed review, Magnet's Chris Barton also criticized the album for being unfocused, writing "Okkervil River can deliver terrific songs when ambitions are kept in balance, but this uneven record is in dire need of an editor." [17]
All tracks are written by Will Sheff
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Stand Ins, One" | 0:47 |
2. | "Lost Coastlines" | 5:31 |
3. | "Singer Songwriter" | 3:49 |
4. | "Starry Stairs" | 4:01 |
5. | "Blue Tulip" | 6:18 |
6. | "Stand Ins, Two" | 0:31 |
7. | "Pop Lie" | 3:12 |
8. | "On Tour with Zykos" | 4:54 |
9. | "Calling and Not Calling My Ex" | 4:21 |
10. | "Stand Ins, Three" | 0:54 |
11. | "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979" | 5:54 |
The following people contributed to The Stand Ins: [1]
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Chart (2007) | Peak position |
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Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [18] | 23 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [19] | 57 |
US Billboard 200 [20] | 42 |
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [21] | 5 |
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard) [22] | 9 |
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [23] | 14 |
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [24] | 3 |
The Photo Album is the third studio album by indie rock band Death Cab for Cutie, released October 9, 2001 on Barsuk Records.
Okkervil River is an American rock band led by singer-songwriter Will Sheff. Formed in Austin, Texas, in 1998, the band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river Okkervil in Saint Petersburg. They began as a trio made up of Sheff and friends he had met in his native state of New Hampshire but, over time, have gone through many lineups.
Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See is the first full-length studio album from alternative folk-rock group, Okkervil River. Released on January 22, 2002 on the label Jagjaguwar, it contains the single, "Kansas City". Artist William Schaff, not to be confused with lead singer Will Sheff, designed the cover art. The album features an array of instruments including violin, pedal steel, mellotron, banjo, string and horn sections.
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Jagjaguwar is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana.
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William J. Schaff Jr. is an American artist and musician based in Warren, Rhode Island and Oakland, California. He is known for artwork for the bands Okkervil River, Songs: Ohia, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.
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Jonathan Albert Meiburg is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead singer and songwriter for Shearwater.
The Stage Names is the fourth full-length studio album by American indie rock band Okkervil River, released on August 7, 2007. The album was recorded in Austin, Texas, with longtime Okkervil producer Brian Beattie, and with mixing from Spoon drummer and producer Jim Eno. Like other Okkervil River albums, the accompanying artwork is the work of artist William Schaff. The cover refers to a line from "Unless It's Kicks". The record was also released as a limited-edition 2-CD set that included a second disc of solo acoustic demos. A newly recorded version of "Love to a Monster", which appeared in rough demo form on the band's tour EP, Overboard and Down, was originally intended to appear on the album, but didn't make it on, and appears as a bonus track when the album is purchased through eMusic. "Shannon Wilsey on the Starry Stairs", described by lead singer and songwriter Will Sheff as "kind of a sequel to 'Savannah Smiles' and kind of a sister song to "John Allyn Smith Sails'", is included as a bonus track when the album is purchased through iTunes.
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