Okkervil River

Tonight every word is decisive. A matter of life or death. On the Okkervil River stage, everything takes on the urgency of finality, like a condemned man's last testament. Once again, the Austin band is ready to lay itself bare in a restless, trembling surge.

Will Sheff takes the stage with no fanfare, following a solid three-quarter-hour set of crunchy indie-rock in the Pavement mould courtesy of Bergamo natives Hogwash. Dressed like a Bible salesman fresh out of the deepest American backwater, Sheff grips his acoustic guitar with purpose, his wild eyes hidden beneath the regulation emo fringe. The band's dry, driving drums immediately set the pace for the trumpet-and-keyboard climax of "The War Criminal Rises And Speaks", which sends shivers down the spine. Every note peers into the abyss, refusing to close its eyes to the terrible discovery of one's own face reflected in the image of barbarity.

His raw, lyrical voice, his spontaneous, feral intensity, and his urgent need to make every heart beat in unison with his own win over the crowd's undivided attention in an instant, in the intimate setting of the Zero Music Club. "Lady Liberty" drifts through the air like the echo of a small-town brass band, carrying the boozy flavour of someone with far too much to forget. Then the fervour turns electric for the raids of "No Key, No Plan" and "The Latest Toughs", caught somewhere between Arcade Fire and Bright Eyes, while Sheff roars and croons with magnetic charisma, backed by a band whose chemistry is plain for all to see.

From the recent EP "Overboard & Down", released only for the Australian market, come "Love To A Monster", an intense folk ballad bearing the classic Okkervil River stamp, and the barreling "The President's Dead", which pits the weight of history against the infinite value of the seemingly most trivial moment. The music drifts through a brief instrumental intro before giving way to the country-tinged bitterness of "Song Of Our So-Called Friend".

Having ditched the shirt and tie for nothing less than a Shangri-Las t-shirt, Sheff throws himself into the whipping riffs of a brand-new, restless rock ride worthy of the best Wilco, "Unless It Kicks", which fires up the crowd's enthusiasm. From the hymnal power of a thrilling "Black", which shakes and sweeps souls and bodies alike in its lava flow, Okkervil River move on to the chiaroscuro of an utterly Dylan-esque rendition of Tim Hardin's "Black Sheep Boy", carried solely by Sheff's guitar and harmonica.

Through a limbo of distortion, the electric slashes and driving bass of "For Real" emerge from the fog, letting Sheff claw even more fiercely. No sooner has the echo of the last notes faded than the mandolin ushers in the grand finale of "Westfall", a raw, blood-soaked confession dating back to the days of "Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See", where noise and silence chase each other in a breathtaking back-and-forth.

After barely a dozen songs delivered without a moment's respite, the band's exit from the stage feels distinctly premature: but Okkervil River's trip to the Po Valley ends up being undermined by a start time pushed back until the stroke of midnight. On top of that, the crowd pouring into the venue for the DJ set that follows means an increasingly intrusive murmur builds from the back of the room. So when Sheff returns to the stage alone for a stripped-back acoustic version of "A Stone", the spell cast by his trembling performance is disrupted by an indifferent background hum. But Sheff seems unbothered and, once rejoined by his bandmates, delivers one last, overwhelming chorus of a furious "Last Love Song For Now".

And even though, for now, this really is the last love song, the stage left empty by Sheff and co. stirs an even sharper anticipation: because Okkervil River really do seem to be at the peak of their powers, and the new songs unveiled over the course of the tour are the best possible omen ahead of the band's return to the studio, expected early next year. Growth and maturity, as Sheff proclaims at the close of the show, don't necessarily mean being willing to give up what's still capable of moving you to tears: "some will rise and keep on living with open eyes, with minds forgiven".

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