Sleep and Wake-Up Songs

Don't Fall in Love With Everyone You See With grackles in their hair and tragedies in their boots, Okkervil River have taken a shot at tradition and injected it with new passion and virility. Uniting the strains of moody chamber pop contemporaries like Tindersticks, Arab Strap and Bright Eyes with the ragged emotional v...	Down the River of Golden Dreams	Overboard & Down Exclusive Australian Tour EP from this Austin-based band, who mix their Folk-Rock inspiration with Alternative gusto. Features five tracks: 'The President's Dead', 'The Room I'm Hiding In', 'O, Dana', 'Love To A Monster' and 'Westfall' (Live). Low Transit. 2006.	Black Sheep Boy (Definitive Edition) When Okkervil River released Black Sheep Boy Appendix in 2005, it seemed like the band just couldn't stop themselves. Folk icon Tim Hardin's tune had both opened and provided the name for the preceding full-length album, and the "Black Sheep Boy" was too compelling a concept to l...	The Stage Names On their debut album, Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See, Okkervil River invoked Otis Redding's "I've Got Dreams to Remember" in a late-album sweep of drama. Here they take the closer, "John Allyn Smith Sails," and spin languidly into verses from "Sloop John B," with tatter...
The Stand Ins The sequel to 2007's critically acclaimed "The Stage Names", which Pitchfork praised as "one of the year's best", is part two of a staggered double album, picking up where part one left off, but delving deeper into the story and theme of "The Stage Names".	Black Sheep Boy Appendix	Palo Santo Once a side project of the woefully underappreciated Okkervil River, Shearwater's Palo Santo staggered enough listeners upon its initial 2006 release that singer and bandleader Jonathan Meiburg re-recorded much of the album for this expanded edition. The band has created a far mo...	Fleet Foxes It's now twenty years since grunge emerged from then culturally isolated Seattle and Fleet Foxes, the eponymous debut album from the city's latest heroes, demonstrates just how much American independent rock has mutated in that time. The five young members of Fleet Foxes make up ...	Boxer With Boxer, the National have reached four albums into their increasingly lauded career, never hurrying the tempo, never over-reaching in volume or instrumental density. Instead, the quintet's balanced on a pin, emotionally austere, if not utterly downhearted, finding brilliantly...

Okkervil keep getting better
For Okkervil River fans, this is a must buy. The title Sleep & Wake-Up Songs is very suiting for the album. The album opens with "A Favor" which is an instant Okkervil River classic. The album then slows down, but picks up again on the closing track "No Hidden Track". The contrast between "sleepy" songs and "wake-up" songs is perfect for an EP. Rarely will I buy an EP, but I can't imagine this album being any longer or shorter. Will Sheff continues to improve his songwriting yet still keeping Okkervil Rivers' distinct sound. Again, this is a must buy for Okkervil River fans. For those who don't know Okkervil River, I suggest checking out Down the River of Golden Dreams or Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See.