Album Review: Okkervil River - The Silver Gymnasium

Once you overcome the shock of hearing this new-sounding Okkervil River and the at-time-cheesy '80s production that litters the Texans' seventh album and realise that it's a concept piece set in frontman Will Sheff's rural hometown in 1986 – a fictional rendering of his childhood just as MTV and the information age hit – it all begins to make sense. Sheff's natural aptitude as a wordsmith still shines, not nostalgic but with childhood innocence; a time before the inner struggles which informed Okkervil's early work. A somewhat strange but mostly satisfying detour.