A wave of acclaim has spread over the internet, all seemingly pointing fingers at Okkervil River’s latest The Stage Names, calling it one of the absolute best releases of the year. Pitchfork’s Stephen Deusner concluded, “These songs are so good and so moving that they only give us stupid, stubborn hope,” giving the album a score of 8.7/10. Further suggestion of awesomeness: Metacritic gives the album a user ranking of 8.9/10…not too shabby. That being said, a strange relationship arose when listening the the band that was later suggested by Deusner in his review, that of the similarities between the two bands – The Hold Steady and Okkervil River.

I can’t help but enjoy both groups, they both play great rock songs and do so without overwhelming with grit while playing gritty rock (PS – it’s a hard thing to admit that you only “kind of like” The Hold Steady when living in Minneapolis). Having said that, I’ve never entirely understood the wholesale appeal of either band – I’m not calling them overrated as they’re both solid, but, actually, they might be a little overrated (is it too late to lean on a tired excuse and suggest that a few more spins will prove my initial thoughts wrong?).

Okkervil River “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe” (mp3)

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