not overkill

i know next to nothing about okkervil river. what i do know:

1. i know that a friend's friend runs a company called fluffwheels that takes bands on tour in europe. that is, they drive the band and their gear to all their shows, but are not affiliated with the band, their label, etc. kind of a neat idea. michal, the friend of a friend, recently came over to the US to take okkervil river on tour in this fashion.

2. i think they are on the saddle creek label, also believed to be the home of bright eyes.

3. my old roommate chris liked both bright eyes and okkervil river, and my annoyance at the former made me assume that the latter was also quite bad. full dislosure: for the most part, my qualm with bright eyes was very shallow and had little to do with his music. i've heard more since and like a lot of it.

4. i thought the band was named "overkill river" for a long time. this fact did not play a big part in my like/dislike for them, but it did make me get the big eyes the first time i read [what i thought was] their name.

in conclusion: chris is fond of the lyrics to okkervil river's song "red", particularly the following:

Yes is my favorite answer. I took a dancer home. She felt so alone. We stayed up all night in the kitchen doing my dishes on and on til the dawn. She said I know it's easy to have me, but I have seen some things that I cannot even tell to my family pictures and I'm full of fictions and fucking addictions and I miss my mother.

at first, i didn't like "red" very much at all, but after leaving it on repeat for about half an hour, it was stuck in my head, and i can enjoy it now.

Okkervil River - Red (from Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See)

on the other hand, i liked "westfall" the first time i listened to it.

Okkervil River - Westfall (from Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See)