SOUNDTRACK: OKKERVIL RIVER-Tiny Desk Concert #311 (October 15, 2013).
I had first heard of Okkeervil River a few years ago, but I never really knew much about them. I assumed they were a folk band. Then a few years back I first head “Down Down the Deep River” and loved it. I had some idea that the band was maybe a duo, so I was surprised to see this rather large 6 piece band–two acoustic guitars, 1 electric guitar, keys, trumpet and drums.
So what’s the deal with this band and the name?
At first blush, Okkervil River is obviously a good rock ‘n’ roll band, but listen closely — especially to its lyrics — and you’ll hear a great rock ‘n’ roll band. The group has been making sharp, thoughtful music since the late ’90s, with the first of its seven albums coming out a dozen years ago.
The songs in this Tiny Desk Concert are from The Silver Gymnasium, a record inspired by the childhood of 37-year-old singer-songwriter Will Sheff; he grew up a bespectacled, crooked-toothed redhead in the small New Hampshire town of Meriden. His lyrics are drenched in specific memories, pop-culture references and youthful insecurity.
The stories pop a bit more in this acoustic set-up for Okkervil River, but they rock plenty hard in concert and on their albums. If you’ve missed the past dozen years of this band, start here and then work your way back through its catalog. The Stage Names is my favorite, but nothing disappoints.
[The band takes its name from a short story by Russian author Tatyana Tolstaya set on the river in St Petersburg].
As it turns out the band is more rocky than folky–even if they are heavily acoustic.
“On a Balcony” a catchy swinging folk rock song. The addition of the trumpet after averse is really cool.
Before “Pink Slips” Sheff switches guitars with the other guy–then laughs because the strap is set wrong. Someone says, why not just switch straps? Which they do. Bob asks him about the strap correlation and he says: I don’t like the Paul McCartney disconnected cerebral height but I don’t like the grunge-Kurt-Cobain-I-cant-reach-my-guitar thing. He likes a happy medium. Then they ask about his shirt–it’s by Winsor McKay, the comic artist. He says he always loved him, then he saw the Tom Petty “Runnin’ Down a Dream” video which imitates McKay. It was a like a dream come to life, so he thought he’d make shirts of artists he likes and sells them with his merch.
“Pink Slips” has a kind of slacker melody with a lot of words—and here you can really hear the sophisticated lyrics that Bob talks about. And the backing vocals sounds terrific. After the song he says No one has caught the Kevin Costner references in that song. (Waterworld and The Postman). He also notes that Tom Petty plays himself in The Postman.
“Down Down the Deep River” is so catchy, although this version is very different from the recorded version—more folky less keyboardy. I really like the keyboard/horn melody and the great backing vocals. And the claps are super fun.
[READ: July 8, 2016] Chew: Volume Eleven
Book Eleven covers issues 51-55. And it features the death of two major characters!
Chapter 1 opens with the cryptic panel TWO YEARS LATER.
It shows Chu Chu’s bestselling cookbook being taken out of the best seller display and being replaced by Amelia’s EATERS series.
Then we flash up to heaven where Tony’s deceased sister Toni catches us up to speed briefly before getting called to bed by Abraham Lincoln and Genghis Khan (I love the bed scenes, they are so funny–the way Guillory draws the sheets so snug…).
Next we move to the White House where the annual Easter Egg hunt has been replaced by a Platypus Egg Hunt (with a platypus that looks quite similar to another famous cartoon platypus). How I wish this was a commentary on the Trump Easter Egg Fiasco #RESIST.
Next we flash to Olive working in the White House kitchen. It is through Olive’s lightning fast reflexes she is able to stop an assassination attempt of the President. And their fast work has promoted them to full-fledged agents with the FDA. Sadly for Olive, she is assigned to work with Ginny who is pretty nutty. But some flash forwards show just how well they work together.
The next chapter shows the early history of Savoy. His wife died in the avian flu epidemic which put him on the path to finding the truth about it. But when he offers his services, a Senator is quick to shut him down–which doesn’t make Savoy very happy.
Then we learn that the Pope has converted from Catholicism to the Egg worshiping religion that is consuming the land. So Tony and Colby are sent to Yampalu to find out what’s going on. But when they arrive, Savoy has already been there–and has been at the same locations as them for several months now. But Tony still refuses to work with him.
Nevertheless, Savoy has tea with Tony and a VICTULOCUSIRE–dine-in his presence and he’s able to transport you to a geographic location based on the nationality of the food they’re eating. And if it’s old food, he can get you to approximately when the food originated.
This means a trip to Bon Vivante, the affluent culinary enthusiasts who eat endangered or long-extinct animals. And so a dinner of extinct dinosaur sends them back to prehistory to see a now-extinct and heretofore undiscovered species of prehistoric chicken humanoids.
Chapter four sees Savoy speaking directly to Tony–telling him that he will regret his decision to reject working with him.
Then we switch to Amelia who is writing the final chapter of the Eaters series. But she says that no matter what she tries to do it always ends up the same–with the world blowing up. But when she tries writing the story from the writer’s point of view, something different and very bad happens.
When Tony gets home he sees that something very bad has happened to his beloved Amelia.
It turns out that a group of E.G.G. terrorists came to take her and her manuscript, but Savoy rescued her And then HE took her manuscript–all existing copies of the final book. And he destroyed them.
The final few pages are dramatic and shocking. And since this is the penultimate book in the Chew series, the last panel clearly sets up how the series will end!
Gasp
There is a fun bonus feature in this book as well.
In May 2014, they published a crossover flip book where the world of Chew intersected with the world of Revival (a comic I don’t know) written by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton. Revival is set in a small town in Wisconsin where the dead have come back to life. Office Dana Cypress is investigating. This book only gives us the Chew story with one flip section where the stories intersect (although we don’t really get to see the Revival side). This story takes place between Chew 4 and 41 or possibly 51 and 52
Trying to get to the bottom of the revival, they uncover chef Dagmar Fiskbüller, a PUNICACURATIO “ingestion of a pomegranate berries has a preternatural restorative effect as well as other assorted anomalous benefits.” Dana: “I’m not sure that even makes sense.” Colby: “Yes, welcome to my world.”
Dagmar has a third arm. But he’s not the only one who has come back from the dead–they are able to reassemble Agnes who freaks when she sees the half robot Colby. She proceeds to beat him up, but its okay, Colby likes ’em feisty.
The whole story is absurd and fun, with a twisted punchline.
Can there really be only one book left?
I Just Read About That... 
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