The Stand Ins

The Stand Ins is the fifth full-length studio album by American indie rock band Okkervil River, released on September 9, 2008.[3] The album is the second half of The Stage Names, a planned double album. The title comes from the term 'stand-in', a person who substitutes for the actor before filming for technical purposes. If the cover art for The Stage Names is placed above that of The Stand-Ins, a complete picture is formed.[3] The album charted at #42 with 11,000 copies sold, according to the Billboard 200.[4]

For other uses, see Stand-in (disambiguation).
The Stand Ins
Cover Art by William Schaff[1]
Studio album by
Okkervil River
ReleasedSeptember 9, 2008
GenreIndie rock
Length40:12
LabelJagjaguwar
ProducerBrian Beattie[2]
Okkervil River chronology
Golden Opportunities Mixtape
(2007)		 The Stand Ins
(2008)		 I Am Very Far
(2011)

Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg and guitarist Charles Bissell of The Wrens contributed to the album.[3]

Overview

Conceived as a companion piece to The Stage Names, The Stand Ins continued the band's preoccupation with pop culture, celebrity suicide, and life as a musician. The track "Lost Coastlines," which features a duet with Shearwater's Jonathan Meiburg, deals with trying to keep the band together despite the band's constant touring.[5] "Starry Stairs" depicts the life and suicide of porn star Shannon Wilsey.[6] The final track on The Stand Ins, "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979," details the career and disillusionment of glam rock musician Bruce Wayne Campbell (better known as Jobriath).[6][7]

Reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[8]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[9]
Drowned in Sound8/10[10]
Entertainment WeeklyA[11]
Pitchfork Media8.0/10[12]
PopMatters[5]
Robert Christgau[13]
Rolling Stone[14]

The Stand Ins has received positive reviews. The album currently has a score of 78 out of 100 on the review aggregate site Metacritic, indicating "Generally favorable reviews."[15]

PopMatters' Joseph Carver praised the album's narrative, writing "Once again, a record made up of relatively unlikeable characters becomes a fixture in your psyche thanks to Will Sheff’s ability to find the humanity in their stories."[5] Pitchfork Media also praised the album's lyrics, with reviewer Stephen Deusner calling Sheff "...one of the best lyric-writers going in indie rock." Deusner continued: "Song for song, he can jerk a tear with a carefully observed detail or turn of phrase... but it's the way those songs talk to one another that makes Okkeril River albums so durable and fascinating."[12]

In a less positive review, Melanie Haupt of The Austin Chronicle criticized the album for being unpolished and unfocused, writing "The Stand Ins doesn't really figure out what it wants to be until its second half."[16] In another mixed review, Magnet's Chris Barton also criticized the album for being unfocused, writing "Okkervil River can deliver terrific songs when ambitions are kept in balance, but this uneven record is in dire need of an editor."[17]

Track list

All tracks are written by Will Sheff.

No.TitleLength
1."Stand Ins, One"0:47
2."Lost Coastlines"5:31
3."Singer Songwriter"3:49
4."Starry Stairs"4:01
5."Blue Tulip"6:18
6."Stand Ins, Two"0:31
7."Pop Lie"3:12
8."On Tour with Zykos"4:54
9."Calling and Not Calling My Ex"4:21
10."Stand Ins, Three"0:54
11."Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979"5:54

Personnel

The following people contributed to The Stand Ins:[1]

Charts
Chart (2007) Peak
position
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[18] 23
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[19] 57
US Billboard 200[20] 42
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[21] 5
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[22] 9
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[23] 14
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[24] 3

References
  1. The Stand Ins - Credits. Allmusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011
  2. Jagjaguwar press release
  3. Okkervil River Reveal Full Details of The Stand Ins Archived 2008-06-01 at the Wayback Machine (Pitchfork Media)
  4. "Metallica Scores Fifth Straight No. 1 Album". Billboard. 2008-09-17.
  5. Carver, Joseph (September 8, 2008). "Okkervil River: The Stand Ins". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 9, 2008. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  6. Howe, Sean. The Stand Ins Review. Entertainment Weekly. 16 September 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2011
  7. Monger, James. The Stand Ins - Okkervil River. Allmusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011
  8. "Reviews for The Stand Ins by Okkervil River". Metacritic. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  9. The Stand Ins at AllMusic
  10. Drowned in Sound review
  11. Entertainment Weekly review
  12. Deusner, Stephen M. (September 8, 2008). "Okkervil River: The Stand Ins Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
  13. Robert Christgau review
  14. Rolling Stone review
  15. Critic Reviews for The Stand Ins. Metacritic. Retrieved 20 June 2011
  16. Haupt, Melanie. ACL Fest Sunday Reviews: Okkervil River. The Austin Chronicle.
  17. Barton, Chris. OKKERVIL RIVER: The Stand Ins. Magnet. 9 September 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2011
  18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Okkervil River – The Stand Ins". Hung Medien.
  19. "Swedishcharts.com – Okkervil River – The Stand Ins". Hung Medien.
  20. "Okkervil River Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  21. "Okkervil River Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard.
  22. "Okkervil River Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard.
  23. "Okkervil River Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard.
  24. "Okkervil River Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard.
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