
The most recent issue of Radar finds their staff assaying the state of all things “overrated,” and in their run up to their otherwise cogently stated listing on the subject, they basically intimate that Austin’s Okkervil River falls into that category. Know what? Not fair, not fair. Certainly, the band is currently aloft on their own mini-tidelet of bloggy acclaim — the sort that breeds backlashy cynicism in those prone to it. But try to appreciate the obvious — the goodwill they’ve garnered has come on the success of a pair of records the band has released since 2005, Black Sheep Boy (and its supplemental “appendix” EP) and this year’s Stage Names, both of which so perfectly showcase the bands blend of folky pastoralism and thriving indie energy that it would be a criminal case of underrating for them to remain solely a Texas treasure. In front of a packed Rock and Roll Hotel Sunday night, they performed and excellently paced, full-throated rock show that succeeded in fulfilling all of their audience’s desires, save for perhaps a few more precious square inches of personal space.