'Black Sheep Boy' is the album that saved Okkervil River. Before this haunted country album – named after folk singer Tim Hardin, who wrote the original version of the title track – became one of the most highly acclaimed records of the '00s, the band were on the verge of quitting music. In 2002 and 2003 they released two albums that didn't really gain any traction and frontman Will Sheff was a drifter, sleeping in the tour van in San Francisco or staying with friends – he was completely broke.
Financially forced to make something special that would reignite the band or call it a day, Sheff set out to make a new album. The result was this incredible 2005 album that became one of the decade's most celebrated sets and it's justifiably being re-released as part of a 3-LP set.
For the recording of this game-changing record – released in 2005 – Sheff had recruited two new band members as the original members left and they rented out a shack near Austin Airport to rehearse. Times were still tough and Sheff would sleep on the floor of the studio to save money.
Complete physical and mental dedication to the album was necessary for survival but, in a way, poverty feels essential to the spirit of the most personal part of the album. There was little material distraction to take his mind off the rocky relationship he was going through at the time of writing and the sincerity in delivery of his densely literate lyrics is second to none. The magnitude of feeling is further emphasised by the haunting melodies from strings, raw guitars, analogue synths, horns and mandolins. Further, the rawness is kept in tact beautifully by producer Brian Beattie, who recorded the material on an ADAT, a cheap recording devide similar to recording onto a four-track VHS recorder, leaving a beautifully organic sound.
Alongside this life-changing LP, the re-release includes the Black Sheep Boy Appendix EP – a compilation of unfinished and reworked material from the album sessions. Meanwhile there's a previously unreleased companion album of covers called 'There Swims A Swan'. The songs were recorded six months before 'Black Sheep Boy' and showcase the American artists from the early 20th century that inspired the bands songwriting at the time. Highlights of these include an emotional cover of 'Goodnight Irene' by Lead Belly and 'See See Rider' by Ma Rainey. They're wonderfully lo-fi, unpolished, bedroom-style recordings that suit Okkervil River and act as an essential understanding to an act who Lou Reed once noted were one of his favourite contemporary bands.
8/10
Words: Cai Trefor
