The Dowry
A concept album is a quite ambitious for a debut, but the story-in-three-parts that the Bloomington, IL band tackles here holds up beautifully due to strong sense of songwriting and style. The songs paint a picture for you of a dusty old western bar and themes of depravity and redemption flow through it’s entirety. My favorite stretch of the album begins with “Pleasure Island” an upbeat song about a town where they “do what they please and they say what they mean” that ends with an accidental killing after shooting rounds into air. The rolling piano and the twangy guitar serves as a backdrop for this tune, that also features a very catchy chorus and some seemingly Johnny Cash-inspired lyrics. If you’re a fan of Murder By Death, then you’ll probably recognize this dusty western road style sung with deep, burrowing vocals, but I’d also recommend The Dowry to those who favor the passion and emotional investment in the story that Okkervil River portrays.
