Oh, internet.

Oh man, one of my favorite things to do when I'm bored (is it sad to be writing about this during the prime part of a Saturday night?) is watch (usually adolescent) youtubers cover Okkervil River songs. It's simultaneously surreal, heart-warming, and terrifying. Y'know... learning to play & sing along with your favorite indie rock band is something that all of us probably did as teenagers, but it's not really something that I ever would have shared with, well, the entire world.

For the two people out there who care about this topic:


These kids, covering an old song called 'Auntie Alice,' are my absolute favorites. They are really, really, really genuinely good. I love the 'talent farm' banner in the back, the kid's pretty voice, the smattering of applause at the end that sounds like about a dozen old people, their clothes, and especially the fact that Auntie Alice is the song they picked. Cute! I love love love this without irony. The kid in the middle playing tambourine? Awesome.

This guy is who you would hire to do an impression of Sheff's voice on one of those CDs of pop songs covered by studio bands that they used to sell. But then you see what he looks like and it's totally a weird match. I would never see this guy somewhere and think that he was an Okkervil River fan. I guess that's my bad. Love.

Something about this whispered, Iron & Wine type version of Westfall kind of scares the shit out of me.

Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe as performed by a 16 year old Conor Oberst.

??????

BONUS! Okkervil River in Wales covering my second favorite ABBA song and splitting my heart open in the process: