Okkervil River – Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See

The same America that gave us the Beach Boys also gave us Charles Manson, and for every Woodstock there’s an Altamont. Amid the gatefold-sleeved nostalgia for summer breaks, first loves or your first joint is the half-memory of that house on the block where something bad happened or the woods where a body was once found. Through this dark Southern heartland comes Okkervil River, whose knack for murder ballads would make Johnny Cash cough and whose lyrical eye for detail is as sharp as the tips of Nick Cave’s winkle-pickers.

“Westfall” is a tale of kids killing for kicks made more brutal by its matter-of-factness: “And when I killed her it was so easy that I wanted to kill her again.” The closest comparison here is Bright Eyes, especially when orchestral strings swoop in on “Listening To Otis Redding At Home During Christmas”. Other highlights include the endearing guest vocals of Daniel Johnston on “Happy Hearts” and the acoustic thrash-along of “Dead Dog Song”, which oddly recalls the folkier intonations of a mid-paced Bad Religion.