Okkervil River

Originally meant to appear alongside 2007's The Stage Names, this sequel album is far from serving as a vat for leftovers. Okkervil River continue to shine in the storytelling department with various portraits not of stand-ins, but of the real things: glam rockers ("Bruce Wayne Campbell"), newly famed heartbreakers ("Calling and Not Calling My Ex"), pop star phonies ("Pop Lie"), the spoiled and disillusioned ("Singer Songwriter"). Moping piano, refined horns, twangy guitar, perky tambourine, doomy drones and spacey interludes all help tell their cynical, ironic and introspective tales.