On this album-length sequel to last year's The Stage Names, these Austin indie rockers continue to dissect the looking-glass emptiness of life spent on the stage, as well as in the cheap seats. "Fuck long hours, sick with singing," frontman Will Sheff sings over slow-building, mariachi-style blues on "Bruce Wayne Campbell Interviewed on the Roof of the Chelsea Hotel, 1979," a boozy, post-fame portrait of the late gay glam rocker Jobraith.
Like its predecessor, The Stand Ins also continues to stretch the band's mopey sound. "Lost Coastlines" trips along on a sprightly Motown groove. "Starry Stairs" is a Smiths ringer punched up with Stax/Volt horn charts. Maybe most surprising is "Pop Lie," an Eighties-style power-pop rocker that rails at "the liar who lied in his pop song" — a character that might just be Sheff. And on the melodramatic "On Tour With Zykos," a song about a fleeting hookup, the singer channels a fan who guilt-trips over smoking bowls and watching TV when she should be making great art. But with The Stand Ins, dude is providing an excellent role model.
Like its predecessor, The Stand Ins also continues to stretch the band's mopey sound. "Lost Coastlines" trips along on a sprightly Motown groove. "Starry Stairs" is a Smiths ringer punched up with Stax/Volt horn charts. Maybe most surprising is "Pop Lie," an Eighties-style power-pop rocker that rails at "the liar who lied in his pop song" — a character that might just be Sheff. And on the melodramatic "On Tour With Zykos," a song about a fleeting hookup, the singer channels a fan who guilt-trips over smoking bowls and watching TV when she should be making great art. But with The Stand Ins, dude is providing an excellent role model.
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