jeffvrabel.com I humorist and music writer

Billboard —A year after releasing one of ’07′s finest records, “The Stage Names,” Will Sheff and band return with a fifth full-length that’s a sequel, a soul mate or second half of its predecessor. “The Stand-Ins” feels looser and breathier than “Stage Names,” from the boppy “You Can’t Hurry Love” bassline on opener “Lost Coastlines” to the crackling “Singer Songwriters,” which takes several well-directed swings at self-indulgent hipsters (“You’ve got outsider art by an artist who arguably kidnapped a kid on the wall,” Sheff indicts). Fans will enjoy hearing the continued tales of characters like Savannah (on “Starry Stairs”) and, one suspects, no small amount of Sheff himself. “The Stand-Ins” doesn’t have quite as many instantly throat-grabbing moments as its brother, but is a quieter, sneakier listen that takes a while to reveal more of the band’s trademark multilayered treats.

• Okkervil River – Singer Songwriter.mp3