The Silver Gymnasium
Though Okkervil River hails from Texas, its frontman, Will Sheff, grew up in a small New Hampshire town (Meriden!). His songs probe his real and imagined experiences there for the seventh Okkervil River album, 2013’s *The Silver Gymnasium*. His snapshots aren’t far removed from the \'70s settings of *Freaks and Geeks* or *That ‘70s Show*; despite being born in 1976, Sheff clings closer to the early-\'80s experiences than anything from the latter half of the decade (he claims 1986, though 1983 would suffice). Fortunately, the band doesn’t try to re-create that era but settles into its usual fluid sense, where instruments from keyboards to guitars mess about, with everyone available to chip in on vocals. The rhythms bounce where applicable. Tunes such as “Down Down the Deep River,” “Where the Spirit Left Us,” and “All the Time Every Day” all skitter with the band’s usual nervous energy and tricky melodies—but with a streamlined sense now that the members have grown up and realized what’s really important.
Okkervil River's first release for the ATO label is a concept album about innocence and youth, showing a kid's first glimpses into the adult world. It's set in the 1980s and comes with a map of Will Sheff’s hometown of Meriden, New Hampshire, showing where each song takes place.
Consistency can be a mixed blessing for any artist, but that’s especially true in indie-rock, where new sounds and next big things have always had the advantage over old, dependable standbys. It was understandable, then, why after five solid albums, Okkervil River’s Will Sheff saw the need to shake things up on the…
The seventh album from Will Sheff and associates mixes maturity and depth with awkward, adolescent moments - which may just be the whole point.
There have always been a few constants when it comes to an Okkervil River album: bruised and brooding melodies, eclectic…
Okkervil River frontman Will Sheff has never shied away from dipping his pen into the seemingly bottomless inkwell of nostalgia that seems to permeate much of 21st century indie pop and rock, but on The Silver Gymnasium, the Lone Star State band’s seventh long-player, Sheff goes all in with a celebration/exorcism of his hometown of Meridian, New Hampshire, crafting an 11- track, exhaustively detailed audio-biography that comes off like a more idiosyncratic, less overbearing version of Arcade Fire's The Suburbs.
Okkervil River's seventh full-length effort, The Silver Gymnasium, finds the band a little more controlled, the emotions a bit more corralled, more focused.
The album is an autumnal tour of vanished youth that blends period touches and details with Okkervil River’s familiar musical tics.