Something of a thesis statement for Okkervil River, their debut LP Don’t Fall In Love With Everyone You See established the band’s template that would be broadened with each successive release — the canny way the mandolins pluck so unobtrusively beneath Sheff’s bleating vocals, and the band’s innate knack for crafting a resplendent melody, all undergirded by a steady bass and drum heartbeat. But what’s most remarkable about this debut is Sheff’s singular lyrical vision — an erudition in assuming sundry perspectives, be it an estranged mother and daughter (“Red”), a downtrodden addict contemplating suicide (“Kansas City”), or even a cold blooded murderer (“Westfall”) he does so with dignity, candor, and a decidedly nonjudgmental ethos, arriving at the chilling conclusion in the latter track that “evil don’t look like anything,” as powerful a line as when the Misfit uttered in Flannery O’Connnor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find,” “She would’ve been a good woman if there had been someone there to shoot her every day of her life.” A fine debut for a band destined for grander achievements.