# 9 Okkervil River

There's a dumb video game I like to play. By "like to play" I mean I've spent countless hours glued to the computer screen when I could've been doing something useful like solving world hunger. It's a major time-sink, so I'm slightly hesitant to share it, but it seems rude not to give you a link. It's like when someone specifically tells you they have a secret and then refuses to spill. Why bring it up? So, here it is: http://chainfactor.com/.

I only do the basic mode in an attempt to not further the addiction. It's my way of pretending I'm in control. I do have a problem. By the way, if you beat 281,222 don't tell me. I don't want to know. (378,343 now. I'm improving.)

What the hell does that have to do with Okkervil River? Well, I can't just play the game in silence, so I'll pick a random band's MySpace page and play that in the background while I'm giving in to my addiction. Over the past few months I've read all sorts of buzz about Okkervil River, but I hadn't heard anything other than "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe." It was time to expand my horizons.

I started chain factoring away and listening to "Plus Ones" and "Unless It's Kicks." Here's when you know the music is good: I stopped my game and went to Okkervil River's website to learn more about them. It's pitiful, I'm aware, but it's a real compliment to the band. And an insult to me. I watched them via webcast during the Austin City Limits Festival, instead of playing my little video game. I'm writing about them right now, instead of trying obsessively to beat my high score.

They haven't cured me to the point that I'm ready to solve world hunger. Maybe once I reach 300,000.

From the comfort of my office I could see they rocked ACL fest.

Here's a video from justinsvs:



Their MySpace page is: http://www.myspace.com/okkervilriver.
Their website is: http://www.okkervilriver.com/.